News : Driver hurt when vehicle rear-ends VS van at RR crossing; no students involved

Ambulance personnel tend to a driver injured in an accident on V61 at railroad tracks Friday.

The driver of this van was injured when he ran into the back of a VS van stopped at RR crossing.

The VS school van after the accident.

The driver of a cargo van whose vehicle collided with a Vinton-Shellsburg School 15-passenger van -- which was empty except for the school district driver behind the wheel -- was taken by ambulance to Virginia Gay Hospital.

A neighbor said that the school vehicle had stopped (as required by law) at the railroad tracks when the driver of the cargo van apparently did not see that the school vehicle had stopped at the tracks.

The Vinton Fire Department, Benton County Sheriff's Office and North Benton Ambulance responded to the scene. An officer said it seemed that only the driver of the cargo van was injured.

The accident remains under investigation.

Vinton-Shellsburg Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock went to the accident scene to check on the school district's driver.

"We had a special education van and driver involved in an accident. There were no students involved," said Hainstock. "Our driver was able to walk away from the accident but our transportation director did take him to the hospital to have them evaluate him. We are fortunate to have many volunteers who assisted at the scene including the sheriff’s department, volunteer firefighters and the ambulance crew as well as others who were passing by."