School bus collides with Kennewick truck driver on Highway 17

A school bus with three students was hit by a Kennewick driver on Tuesday when the bus driver pulled out in front of him on Highway 17.

The crash happened at 4:25 p.m. about five miles south of Moses Lake in Grant County, said the Washington State Patrol. The students, ages 9, 12 and 14, were not injured.

Juan E. Mendoza, 21, of Kennewick, was headed south on the rural highway in a Honda pickup when the school bus pulled into the intersection, said WSP.

Bus driver Ashley M. Moreno, 30, of Warden, was initially stopped on Road 3 Southeast waiting to cross Highway 17, when she pulled onto the highway.

The bus ended up on the eastbound shoulder of the highway, and Mendoza’s pickup came to rest near a ditch on the southeast corner of the intersection.

Both drivers were wearing seat belts and weren’t injured. The bus driver was cited for failing to yield, said WSP.