School Bus Driver Dies While Driving in Whitemarsh

A 78-year-old school bus driver apparently died while driving a school bus Thursday afternoon.

According to Whitemarsh Police, a witness saw a full-size school bus cross Ridge Pike against a red light while driving southbound on Church Road approaching Harts Lane. The school bus grazed a stone wall on the northwest corner of the intersection and crashed into a light post.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m.

A witness, Louis Holod Jr., who was in his truck at the intersection, said the bus appeared to be unoccupied as it rolled by him, police said. Holod then left his truck and ran after the bus; Holod saw that the driver appeared to be unconscious, lying face down in the stairwell of the bus. 

It was confirmed that there were no other occupants on the bus.

According to police, Holod entered the bus by kicking a glass door panel, and stopped the bus in the 2300 block of Harts Lane.

Whitemarsh Police said that the driver, Harold Rosenwinkel, of the 3600 block of Welsh Road, Willow Grove, wasn’t breathing and did not have a pulse. He was transported via Whitemarsh Ambulance to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

The school bus was owned and operated by Sague Bus Service out of Lafayette Hill.