A Beaufort County Schools bus was rear-ended on U.S. Highway 264 on Monday, sending the driver of the vehicle to Vidant Memorial Hospital via helicopter.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. — the school bus driver had just let off a student from P.S. Jones Middle School at U.S. 264 and Clinton Avenue when the bus was struck from behind, according to officials. At the time of the accident, the flashing lights and the stop arm were both in use, said Sgt. C.W. Lawrence with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Lawrence said the black Jeep was wedged beneath the rear of the school bus up to its windshield, and emergency response personnel had to cut the 55-year-old woman out of the SUV.

“All the kids were driven by another bus to the hospital,” Lawrence said. “There were no life-threatening or serious injuries for the kids.”

Lawrence said the driver of the Jeep was conscious and alert enough to answer questions, but troopers didn’t have an opportunity to speak with her.

This is the second incident this school year involving a vehicle rear-ending a stopped school bus in Beaufort County. On Oct. 15, a truck rear-ended a BCS bus on Springs Road.  The driver in that accident was charged with failure to reduce speed.

“It is very unfortunate,” Sarah Hodges, Beaufort County Schools’ public information officer, said of Monday’s accident. “It appears that there was nothing the (bus) driver could have helped. It is totally to the credit of our driver that she got our kids out of danger after the accident occurred.”

Hodges said three P.S. Jones students were checked at Vidant Beaufort Hospital as a precautionary measure.

Lawrence said that while the cause of the accident was unknown at the time, drivers should take this as a sign to pay more attention to the road.

“Obviously, the bus — it’s big, it’s yellow, it’s got flashing lights, it’s very visible,” Lawrence said. “People are getting distracted. … Pay more attention to what’s going on in front of your vehicle, as opposed to what’s going on inside your vehicle.”

It’s a notion that Hodges agrees with.

“We ask the public to please exercise caution when our buses are on the road and we need the public’s help in doing that,” Hodges said.