Time: 7:52 a.m.
Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Location: 21st Street and Kentucky Avenue, Paducah
Driver 1: Vernon E. Gary, 82, of Park Avenue, driving a 2016 Ford Econoline E450 Paducah Area Transit System bus south on 21st Street
Driver 2: Carrie J. Rains, 39, of Benton, KY, driving a 2014 Dodge Charger west on Kentucky Avenue
Driver 3: Samantha E. Smith, 26, of Grand Rivers, KY, driving a 2013 Nissan Altima north on 21st Street
Driver 4: Joseph J. Humm, 74, of South Friendship Road, driving a 2015 Honda Civic north on 21st Street
Three people were injured in a collision this morning that left a Paducah Area Transit System (PATS) bus on its side at a busy Paducah intersection. Witnesses told Officer Travis Counts the PATS bus, driven by Vernon E. Gary, was driving south on 21st Street and ran a red light at Kentucky Avenue. The bus was hit broadside by a Dodge Charger driven west on Kentucky Avenue by Carrie J. Rains. The bus flipped onto its passenger side and began to slide. It slid into a Nissan Altima driven by Samantha Smith, which was northbound on 21st Street, sitting in the turn lane and waiting to turn left onto Kentucky Avenue. Smith confirmed that north/south traffic had a red light. The impact of the bus pushed Smith’s Altima into a Honda Civic, driven by Joseph Humm, which was sitting next to her in the outside lane. Gary was taken by Mercy Ambulance to Lourdes Hospital for treatment. Rains and a passenger on the bus, Katie Harris, 36, of Clinton Road, were taken to Baptist Health Paducah for treatment.