Photo provided by Dubois County Sheriff's Office

By Herald Staff

BIRDSEYE — A Birdseye man was flown to an Evansville hospital with a head injury after his pickup truck struck a stopped school bus head-on Tuesday morning.

According to the Dubois County Sheriff's Office, Blake Gutgsell, 53, of Birdseye was driving a 2019 GMC Sierra pickup truck westbound on County Road 400 South, east of Pine Ridge road in Birdseye around 7:40 a.m. Tuesday morning. An eastbound Southeast Dubois Schools school bus driven by Bernard Gutgsell, 59, of Birdseye had finished unloading students and Bernard Gutgsell noticed the oncoming pickup across the center line. Bernard Gutgsell stopped the school bus at the right most part of the roadway and the pickup continued left of center and struck the stopped bus head-on.

Blake Gutgsell was transported to Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper and then taken by helicopter to St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville for treatment of a head injury.

The cause of the pickup truck being left of center is unknown. Drugs and/or alcohol are not suspected as factors in the accident.

the pickup truck was totaled and damage is estimated at $5,000 to the school bus, which was able to be driven from the scene.

Assisting agencies at the scene were Schnellville first responders, Memorial EMS, Sternberg's Wrecker Services and representatives from Southeast Dubois Schools.