GATESVILLE – An early morning accident near here on Tuesday resulted injured a mother and her young daughter while causing some anxious moments for a bus load of Gates County school students.

The 7:20 a.m. accident involved three vehicles. A three-year-old child in one of the vehicles was ejected and was rushed to a Virginia hospital.

According to a report filed by North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper J.S. Archer, a 1995 Honda driven by Krystal Reid of Sunbury exited a private driveway along a stretch of Silver Springs Road near Mill Pond Road.

The Honda was struck by a 1993 Lexus driven by Sarah Boone of Sunbury who was operating her vehicle on Silver Springs Road.

Meanwhile, a Gates County school bus was stopped in another private drive where it makes a daily turnaround.

On impact, the Honda spun and came to rest against the school bus. None of the high school and middle school students aboard the bus or its driver suffered injuries.

Principals from both Gates County High School and Central Middle School responded to the accident scene.

The focus of the medical responders centered on Reid’s daughter who was ejected from the vehicle. Archer’s report revealed that the three-year-old was in a child safety seat, but was not properly restrained in the seat. Additionally, the seat was not properly restrained in the vehicle, according to Archer.

The three-year-old was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk, Va. where the child was kept for close observation.

Reid as well as Boone and a passenger in the Lexus were all transported via ground units to Obici Hospital in Suffolk, Va. where they were treated and released.

Charges are pending in the accident.

Gates County Sheriff Ed Webb praised the response of emergency medical teams to the accident scene as well as saying how well behaved the school children were during their delayed trip to the start of Tuesday’s classes.

“I think they (students) realized just how serious it is to operate a motor vehicle,” Webb said. “Accidents happen in a split second.”