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LEVAN, Juab County — A school bus driver is being credited with saving the lives of nearly 50 elementary and junior high school students after his school bus collided with an SUV hauling a camp trailer.
Steve Peterson was driving the bus from Nephi to Levan on southbound state Route 28 about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday when a GMC Yukon traveling the opposite direction started to sway, pulling the SUV out of its travel lane, Utah Highway Patrol officials reported.
Peterson avoided a head-on collision, but debris from the camp trailer crashed through the bus’s front window and struck him in the face. Peterson was transported to a hospital where he underwent facial reconstruction surgery overnight.
Additionally, six students were treated with minor injuries and one suffered a broken arm.
Juab School District Superintendent Rick Robins called Peterson’s quick-thinking “nothing short of heroic.”
“His actions were just amazing,” Robins said, "to be able to stabilize that bus while impacting that travel trailer.”
No passengers in the Yukon were injured in the crash, UHP officials said.
Community members are now gathering donations to support Peterson’s family while he recovers.
“Anytime a community, a small community goes through something this serious, it is an emotional time. And our families are coming together to support their children and their schools, and I think everyone is in that decompress mode to address this situation as best as they can,” Robins said.
Anyone who wishes to help Peterson and is family is being asked to donate items suitable for care packages to be used by his hospital visitors — i.e., snacks, magazines, gift cards, etc. Donations can be dropped off at Red Cliffs Elementary School, 1199 S. Main St. in Nephi.
