Special to the Branford News

A head-on collision with a Suwannee County school bus left one man injured and another county frantically searching for the accident.



Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate that around 4 p.m. Thursday, April 24, Ronald Metts, 47, of Live Oak, entered a curve to the south of 206th Road, west of Live Oak at an unsafe speed and crossed into the northbound lane striking a school bus driven by Sandra Lee Porter-Koehn, 41, of Live Oak.



Seven passengers were on the school bus, and none were injured.



“None of the kids or bus driver were hurt, and there was just minimum damage to our bus, the front bumper and part of the hood and left headlight,” Suwannee County Transportation Director Hugh Mills said.



Mills said another bus was sent to the scene, and the bus driver and the students went on with the route, while the wrecked bus was driven back to the garage. The bus driver notified the parents at each stop.



Metts was transported to Shands at Live Oak.



While Suwannee County emergency personnel were attending to those in the accident, Madison County was responding to the same accident they believed to be in their county.



Because the accident was on River Road, it appears the call to 911 rang in Madison County dispatch and had their emergency personnel responding to an accident they thought was in Madison County on River Road. This is a common situation, as calls made to 911 often get directed by towers to a nearby county, especially when the call comes from a cell phone.

Sheila Knight, Suwannee County 911 supervisor, said the counties respond to the calls and ask questions later, so to speak. But she said callers can help prevent needless response in the wrong county by asking what county 911 they are calling.



“Their first question could be, ‘Is this Suwannee County 911?’ and then they will be transferred if necessary,” Knight said. “Any information they can provide to us about where they are, the better off we’ll be.”



Violet McDonald may be reached by calling 386/362-1734 ext. 130 or by e-mail at violet.mcdonald@gaflnews.com.