A 75-foot Grays Harbor Transit bus ran off the road early Thursday morning while headed south on State Route 109 11 miles north of Ocean Shores, and the driver has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of a drug and alcohol test, officials said.
There were only two passengers on the bus, which seats up to 32 people, Transit General Manager Ken Mehin said.
One passenger, a 14-year-old male from Pacific Beach, was taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital after the nearly empty bus drifted off the road to the right, over-corrected to the left and ran into the trees on the northbound side of the highway, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The hospital could not release the teen’s condition because they did not have parental permission to do so.
The 63-year-old Hoquiam bus driver and the other passenger, a 46-year-old woman from Hoquiam, were not injured, the State Patrol said.
The State Patrol listed the cause as “inattention.” The report notes the driver was not wearing a seatbelt.
The 26-year veteran driver was tested automatically by the transit authority. This was his normal route, said Mehin.
Bus accidents are rare at Garys Harbor Transit, he added.
If the driver’s test comes back negative, he will undergo a road safety refresher course, he said. If the test comes back positive, it will result in the driver’s termination, Mehin said.
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