School Bus Driver Pronounced Dead After Bus Hits Utility Pole in Gaithersburg

A school bus driver was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon after the bus left Central Avenue near Frederick Road in Gaithersburg and struck a utility pole. No students were on board.

The driver “likely experienced a medical emergency” before the bus veered into trees and hit the pole, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer said. He placed the collision at Poplarwood Place and Central Avenue, off Frederick Road, at about 3 p.m., and said there were no student passengers aboard.

A photo released by the fire department shows the bus off the roadway with its front end against a leaning utility pole and its markings identifying it as a Montgomery County Public Schools bus.

Officers from the police department’s 6th District and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched at 3:04 p.m. after a report that a school bus had crashed into a utility pole, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police.

In an update posted shortly before 4 p.m., police said the driver had been pronounced dead and that the death is being handled as a medical emergency.

Neither agency has released the driver’s name or said whether the bus was on a route, and the account of a medical emergency remains preliminary.

Road Closure

Central Avenue is closed between Poplarwood Place and Paradise Court. Drivers are advised to seek an alternate route and to expect delays in the area.

Police said more information will be released as it becomes available. This story will be updated.

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