U-Haul, School Bus Involved in Minor Crash; No Injuries Reported

A minor collision occurred between a U-Haul truck and a school bus Monday afternoon in Murrieta, but no one was injured, authorities said.

The accident happened at about 2:20 p.m. as the Murrieta Valley Unified School District bus was heading westbound on Murrieta Hot Springs Road from Warm Springs Middle School, and was stopped at the traffic signal to turn left onto Whitewood Road, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Harvey Ray.

A U-Haul truck was turning left onto Murrieta Hot Springs from Whitewood when it clipped the mirror on the school bus, Harvey told Patch.

Fifty-one children were on board.

Some of them texted their parents, who arrived to pick them up.

"I was nervous, scared," said parent Sherry Sanchez, whose 11-year-old son Nicholas Sanchez texted her when the bus had to pull off the road due to the accident.

"But I was relieved when I got here."

Nicholas told Patch he didn't feel anything.

Other children were taken home on the bus after CHP and Murrieta police finished taking reports of the incident, according to Karen Parris, spokesperson for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

The investigation into the accident was handled by CHP because it involved a school bus with more than two passengers. By law, the CHP handles such accidents, authorities on scene told Patch.

Officers were not clear whether the driver of the U-Haul knew they'd hit the mirror on the bus.

Harvey said it was classified as a hit and run until the U-Haul driver was located.

"It was the back end of the U-Haul so they probably didn't know," Harvey said.

The license plate of the U-Haul truck was noted, and according to a report on the CHP website, Murrieta police had caught up with the driver of the U-Haul near Calle Andras and Winchester Road. The outcome of the stop was not immediately known.