By KAREN RICE
The bus driver, Michael Pancia, 56, from Inwood, who was driving a 2000 International from the Independent Coach Corp., was attempting to make a right from Rockaway Turnpike onto Mott Avenue at the same time as the minivan' s driver, Lori Gal, 42, of Hewlett Harbor who was driving a '97 green Dodge Caravan, police said.
The Dodge was on the right of, but a little behind, the bus, who was making a wide turn to avoid hitting a utiliy pole, police said. The Dodge was caught under the bus and pressed against the utility pole. The force of the collision also caused the bus to collide with a 2002 silver/gold Toyota Sienna driven by Giuseppe Perrella, 36, from Lawrence, who was approaching a stop sign on Mott Avenue.
"I didn't see the car behind the bus," said one witness, a Cedarhurst resident. "I thought it was just the bus. It was coming towards me and I ran to get out of the way. Then I fell and hurt my hand. At least nobody got killed."
Perrella also did not see the minivan next to the bus. "Before I was at the stop sign I saw the bus slow down and he goes a little wider for the turn--he was driving a big truck--and everything seemed fine," he said.
Gal's daughters, ages 6 and 7, where also in the car. They and their mother suffered minor bleeding and concussions. The mother and the 6-year-old where taken by helicopter, and the 7-year-old by ground ambulance, to Nassau University Medical Center [NUMC], where they were in stable condition and are being held for observations, said Shelly Lotenberg, a hospital spokesperson.
Pancia suffered back pain and Perrella suffered neck pain.
