KELSEYVILLE >> Only minor injuries were suffered in a multi-vehicle accident that could have been much worse.
The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon. On scanner reports it sounded almost routine. For those involved, however, it was a rather dramatic affair.
According to California Highway Patrol officer Brett Wade, Evelyn Mullen of Kelseyville had been traveling north on Highway 29 when she stopped behind a vehicle waiting to turn onto Bottle Rock Road. Several other cars also stopped behind her.
William Jessip, driving a Lake Transit bus, approached the line of vehicles at highway speed. The Clearlake Oaks resident was unable to stop, so he swerved into the southbound lane in an effort to avoid a collision.
Meanwhile, Clearlake resident Lisa Gentry was approaching the Bottle Rock intersection, heading south.
Trying to escape a head on crash, Jessip cut back into the northbound lane. The bus smacked into Mullen’s stopped vehicle and Gentry’s oncoming car.
After clearing the two cars, the bus — which had passengers on board — veered across the lane, traveled up a hillside along the west side of the highway and tore through a wire fence before finally coming to rest.
“Passengers in the bus sustained minor complaint of pain type injuries,” Wade reported.
Two were transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, along with Gentry, also with minor injuries. Mullen was tended to at the scene.
Jessip was not injured.
While the collision remains is under investigation, Wade indicated that neither drugs nor alcohol were factors.
