Braintree Man Fatally Injured
When His Car Hits School Bus
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch

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A 65-year-old Braintree man died Sunday of injuries sustained in a Friday morning collision with a school bus carrying 16 children on Route 12A in Braintree.

Police said Ray Potuznick suffered major injuries when his southbound 1997 Chevrolet Lumina crossed the centerline and struck a northbound bus, driven by Guy Waldo, 64, of Randolph. Potuznick was transported first to Gifford Medical Center, and then to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he died Sunday.

Potuznick was the only person injured in the 7:30 a.m. collision, and kudos were pouring in this week for Braintree bus driver Guy Waldo, who was able to pull his 2000 International bus over barely in time to avoid a head-on collision with Potuznick’s van.

"If the driver hadn’t been completely alert and hadn’t responded so well, half the kids in that bus would have been hurt. He did a terrific job," said Sgt. Sean Carroll, of the VSP Royalton barracks, at the crash site Friday.

Waldo told The Herald this week that he had just picked up two students, and was heading towards Braintree Elementary School, at about 25 mph, when he saw a vehicle ahead, "drifting towards us." He said the car, which had pulled onto Route 12A from Mobile Acres, was driving "within the speed limit."

The car "sort of corrected," but Waldo immediately pulled over to the right onto the shoulder. He said he was initially more concerned that the van might strike the car behind the bus.

Then, the Lumina, at that point partially over the centerline, "turned sharply into me—as sharply as a car can go," Waldo recalled.

"I did enough to avoid a head-on—that’s all I could do," he added.

What happened instead, according to Sgt. Carroll, was that Potuzick’s vehicle sideswiped the bus, sliding along it before being thrown back the other way.

The Lumina continued another 143 feet and came to an uncontrolled rest, 11 feet off the west side of Route 12A. State police said that Potuznick had not been wearing his seatbelt.

After the impact, Waldo turned his attention to another duty—calming the 16 elementary kids on his bus. The impact was big enough to knock the rear of the bus over a few inches and the kids were shaken, but apparently not hurt.

"It is critical to not let things escalate to panic and hysteria," he noted.

Waldo said pulling the bus over came as sort of a natural driver’s instinct, but he credited the bus driver training he has received for his "crowd control" skills.

Waldo asked his charges a steady stream of questions, to keep them in their seats and their eyes on him—and not "gawking" at rescue activities going on outside the bus.

This week, Waldo admitted that he was emotionally shaken by the incident, as well. He said that Potuznick apparently had some medical issues, as he had an oxygen tank in the car.

Later, EMTs evaluated the children, and a few kids were transported to Gifford for further evaluation.

Fortunately, all of the children were fine, according to Becky Congdon, transportation coordinator for the Orange Southwest Supervisory Union.

"Guy did a super job," Congdon added. "The kids did, too. They were patient, listened to questions and answered them, and were cooperative."

Potuznick’s car sustained moderate front-end and driver’s side damage, as did the bus. Another bus was called to the scene, to take the kids not going to the hospital to school.

Body damage to the bus is presently being evaluated by the insurance company, Congdon said.

An obituary for Potuznick appears in the B-section of this week’s Herald.