Bus driver injured in head-on crash with SUV near Marietta High; teen charged

A school bus driver was taken to a hospital Thursday morning after a head-on crash with an SUV near Marietta High School.

A 16-year-old Marietta High student was charged in the incident after telling police he lost control of his vehicle while going around a curve on Manning Road and crashed into the bus.

Two Marietta City Schools students were on board at the time, Marietta police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy told AJC.com.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

The 16-year-old, his 16-year-old passenger and the students on the bus were checked by paramedics at the scene and decided not to go to a hospital, he said. They were released to their parents.

The bus driver’s injuries are not considered life-threatening.

“We are incredibly grateful that no one was more seriously injured,” McPhilamy said.

The teen driver, whose name was not released, was charged with failure to maintain lane, driving too fast for conditions and violation of Class D driver’s license restrictions, Marietta police confirmed.

Manning Road was shut down for about an hour while crews worked to clear the wrecked vehicles. The school bus crashed into a tree on one side of the road, and the SUV ended up in some bushes after spinning and striking the bus a second time, according to police. Both were heavily damaged.

“It’s an accident; they call it that for a reason,” McPhilamy said at the scene. “It’s not ‘intentional,’ but every time you see the level of damage that we're looking at in these vehicles, we're very fortunate that everyone was able to walk away from this.”

The road reopened at 9:15 a.m.

The crash investigation did not impact operations at Marietta High School or at nearby A.L. Burruss Elementary School.

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