Driver Injured In Collision With School Bus Near Checotah

A driver was injured after authorities say he cut off a school bus, causing it to crash into his car on US 69 near Checotah, Oklahoma, Friday night.

It happened at 9:50 p.m. on US 69, just south of Checotah In McIntosh County.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a 2002 Chevrolet driven by 50-year-old Bert Thomas of Houston, Texas, was northbound on US 69 in the inside lane, when it made an abrupt lane change to the outside lane and decelerated quickly in an attempt to take the exit ramp onto I-40.

A school bus going northbound on the outside lane could not stop in time, and struck the Thomas's vehicle in the rear, according to the OHP.

The school bus then swerved to the left and hit another vehicle that was going northbound at the time.

The school bus driver was not injured.

There were 27 passengers on the schools bus. None of them were injured.

Thomas was transported to the Eastar Hospital in Muskogee, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

The driver of the vehicle that was hit by the school bus was not injured.

Troopers listed the cause of the collision as "unsafe lane change" in the OHP collision report.