The bus carrying the Lehigh University crew team overturned on Route 22 on Tuesday evening, after a driver fled a traffic stop and crashed into the bus, according to the Boston Herald.
Eighteen Lehigh rowing team members and the bus driver, 60, sustained only minor injuries and were released from the emergency room that night, according to the Brown and White, the university’s student newspaper. The driver of the other car, Robert Sigley, Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene after his car caught fire.
Sigley, driving an Acura CL sedan, struck the bus and flipped it onto its roof. According to The Morning Call, State Trooper Mark Allen said that it normally takes a lot of force to flip a bus, and that Pennsylvania State Police will not know fully what happened until they do an accident reconstruction. The bus driver was wearing the only seatbelt on the bus.
According to the Morning Call, Allen said the state trooper who stopped Sigley did not have a chance to catch up to the driver before his car hit the bus. PA state police did not respond for comment before deadline.
Lafayette Crew Captain Alexandra Nagurney ‘16 extended the team’s support to their rival team when she heard of the accident. Lafayette crew similarly takes a bus to reach their boathouse.