Three people were hurt when a vehicle struck the rear of a moving school bus on Ga. 365 near Mt. Airy early Thursday.
Ge De Zhong, 45, of Macon told the investigating trooper he pressed the gas pedal when he meant to apply the brakes in his 2016 silver Ford Fusion, resulting in it slamming into the rear of the bus.
The wreck happened on Ga. 365 northbound just north of Ga. 197 at 6:20 a.m., said Sr. Trooper Jason Stephens of Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa. Both vehicles were in motion, traveling north in the right-hand, slow lane of Ga. 365 at the time of the collision.
The bus was a 1997 International 3000 Series school bus owned by the Habersham County Board of Education and driven by Mary Miller, 66, of Cornelia, Stephens said.
Miller, her bus monitor, and a specials needs student were aboard the bus at the time of the wreck, Stephens said. Two of those complained of injuries and were evaluated on the scene but not transported by ambulance for treatment.
Zhong, who was restrained and whose car's airbags deployed, was injured and was taken to Habersham Medical Center by ambulance, Stephens said. Zhong was cited for following too closely.
