PORT TOWNSEND — A 61-year-old Port Townsend man was sent to the hospital Saturday morning after his pickup truck was struck from behind by a Jefferson Transit Authority bus.
According to East Jefferson Fire Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley, the driver of the 1994 Ford Ranger pickup, Francis Brown, was southbound on Sims Way near Cleveland Street at about 9:30 a.m. when he stopped for a deer crossing the road.
“And there was a Jefferson Transit bus behind him,” Beezley said.
“The bus driver said he looked down for a moment, looked up and rammed him from behind.”
The bus was driven by Darrell Finley, 61, according to Port Townsend police spokesman Patrick Fudally. Information on where Finley resides was not available.
Brown was transported to Jefferson Healthcare with head lacerations.
“[The bus] hit him hard enough that his head snapped back and broke the back window,” Beezley said.
“Then he rebounded and hit the steering wheel.”
Brown’s condition was not available from Jefferson Healthcare on Saturday, though Beezley described the injuries as not serious.
He was the only occupant in the pickup.
No one else was injured in the crash, including the two people riding the bus at the time, Beezley said.
Finley was cited, according to Fudally, though information on the nature of the citation wasn’t available.
Beezley added: “East Jefferson Fire Rescue recommends that people put a little more space between themselves on these rain-slicked roads with the onset of winter weather.”
