Motorcyclist killed in Tampa crash involving school bus

A motorcyclist was killed Friday evening in a crash involving a school bus and three other vehicles.The accident happened around 4:30 p.m. at the intersection of Waters Avenue and Twelve Oaks Boulevard in Tampa.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said the bus driver was turning onto Twelve Oaks Blvd. getting ready to drop some students off when a speeding motorcyclist lost control and smashed into the front passenger side of the bus.
"We estimate at this time he was going approximately 90 to 100 miles-an-hour,” said Cristal Bermudez Nunez, with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

There were five students on the bus from Tampa Bay Tech, Walker Middle School and Stewart Middle School, including 12-year-old Alexis Haukaas. She and the others were not hurt during the ordeal, but she said they definitely felt the impact.
"At first it was very surprising because I wasn't sure what happened," she said. "It was just a huge bump and the bus jolted but then I started to feel really sad because I saw he wasn't moving so I knew he was dead."The motorcycle continued past the bus striking a 2002 Mercury Sable on the drivers' side. That driver was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Debris from the motorcycle damaged two other cars, as well.

The driver of the bus was uninjured in the crash but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.The motorcyclist was identified as 22-year-old Jose Mauricio Rodriguez, of Tampa. Deputies said he was not wearing a helmet.

"If the motorcyclist had hit the bus in a different location our outcome could have been very different,” said Nunez. "If he would have hit at those doors to the school bus he would have continued on, I mean, with the speed he was coming, he would have continued on to the bus and possibly killed the bus driver."

Eastbound traffic on Waters was blocked for several hours while deputies investigated the accident and worked to clear the scene.