Council Bluffs, IA — April 4, 2025, one person was injured in a bus accident at about 4 p.m. near Harry Langdon Boulevard and East South Omaha Bridge Road.

Authorities said a Ford pickup crashed into a school bus near Lewis Central High School.

The Ford driver, who was trapped in the vehicle after the crash, was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to authorities. The driver's name has not been made public at this time.

There were no students on the bus at the time of the crash, authorities said. The bus driver and an adult passenger were not injured.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Pottawattamie County crash.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a crash involves a school bus and leaves another driver seriously injured, the first questions from a legal standpoint are always the same: Who had the right of way, and who failed to yield it? That may sound basic, but it’s the foundation for determining fault in any two-vehicle collision, especially when one of those vehicles is a school bus, which is expected to be operated with an extra degree of caution.

According to reports, a Ford pickup struck the school bus near a high school around 4 p.m., a time of day when traffic near school zones tends to be heavier and more unpredictable. While the injured pickup driver was the one hospitalized, we still don’t know which vehicle entered the intersection first, whether any traffic signals or signs were ignored or what kind of maneuver either driver was attempting.

That’s why it's critical that investigators gather and review all available evidence. That includes witness statements, any nearby surveillance or traffic camera footage and physical evidence from the scene like skid marks and vehicle positions. The bus may also be equipped with internal or external cameras, which could provide clear insight into the moments leading up to the crash.

One detail worth noting is that no students were on the bus at the time. That doesn’t change the expectations placed on the bus driver, but it does eliminate one layer of complexity: namely, the responsibility to protect children on board. Even so, school buses are held to high operational standards. Was the bus moving at a safe speed? Did it stop or signal properly? Was the driver fully alert and paying attention? Those are questions that should be asked in any crash involving a school bus, regardless of who was hurt.

At the same time, we can’t ignore the possibility that the pickup driver made an error. Was he distracted, speeding or trying to beat the bus through an intersection? Was visibility an issue? These are the types of details that will determine whether the injury was the result of poor judgment, bad timing or something more avoidable.

Bottom line: just because one vehicle took the worst of the damage doesn’t automatically mean the other was faultless. Crashes like this one near a school need to be investigated thoroughly, because when commercial or public-service vehicles are involved, the public has every right to expect that safety comes first: every time.