Teen Dies, 13 Hurt in San Marcos Bus Crash : Accident: Motor home hits the back of the school bus at an intersection that has been plagued by collisions.

SAN MARCOS —  At an intersection plagued by accidents since the installation of a new traffic signal, a motor home plowed into a school bus taking junior high students home from school Tuesday afternoon, killing one teen-age girl and injuring 13 other students.

Jennifer Christine Loscher, 13, the daughter of a San Marcos city councilman, was pronounced dead on arrival at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. “She was just a doll. She was just perfect,” her longtime baby-sitter said.

The 13 students who were hurt were taken to various area hospitals. All 13 were in either good or fair condition late Tuesday, though two of the 13 suffered serious cuts, hospital officials said. Neither driver was hurt.

The crash terrified students aboard the bus.

“People panicked and were afraid their friends would die or something,” said Craig Audibert, 12, of San Marcos.

It remained unclear who was at fault in the crash, which occurred about 1:50 p.m. as the bus was taking 26 San Marcos Junior High seventh- and eighth-graders home from the school, about 2 miles away. The California Highway Patrol said the driver of the motor home, 18-year-old Jamie Pyer of San Marcos, was traveling within legal speed limits and had a green light.

It was uncertain, officers said, whether the bus, driven by Dawn Wynne, 36, of Vista, had a green arrow, green light or yellow or red light.

“Our predicament is that at this time we’re determining who had the right of way,” Officer Jerry Bohrer said. “We’re trying to put everything together.”

At the intersection where the accident took place, Mulberry Drive and Mission Road, several “minor accidents” have occurred during the three months since a new traffic light was installed, San Marcos City Manager Rick Gittings said. The new light was part of a yearlong, $5-million project to expand Mission Road to six lanes.

The light controlling the turn north onto Mulberry Drive from eastbound Mission Road is “rather unusual,” CHP Officer Phil Konstantin said. A driver can see either a green left-turn arrow, which means oncoming traffic must stop, or a regular green light, which means left turns are permitted but oncoming traffic has the right of way.

Gittings and police said they did not have accident records at hand Tuesday night. But Klaas Behaan, controller of the Hollandia Dairy at the intersection, said he has seen at least one accident a week there since the light was installed.

“I was inside when I heard what sounded like a regular bang, because we’ve been having so many recently,” Behaan said. “Then I walked out and saw the school bus. Then I saw the kids.”

Matthew Saffiote, 20, of Escondido, a clerk at a nearby convenience store, estimated for reporters that there have been more than a dozen traffic accidents at the intersection in the past couple of months.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Saffiote said. “I was expecting this to happen.”

According to the CHP, the bus was turning north onto Mulberry Drive from eastbound Mission Road. The motor home, traveling west about 50 m.p.h., hit the right rear of the bus as it made the turn, Konstantin said.

“We were turning the corner and a motor home hit us,” said Heather Townsend, 12, of San Marcos, one of the students on the bus, which was about half-full. “There was a big bang. I was scared. I thought maybe the bus was going to catch on fire.”

There was no fire, but the bus collapsed in on Jennifer Loscher, who was sitting in the right rear corner. She was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m. at the hospital. Her father, Mark Loscher, is a San Marcos city councilman.

Loscher and his wife, Maureen, declined Tuesday to speak to reporters. “In about a day, (they’ll) probably be able to do that,” said Joyce Ernest, 39, of San Marcos, a family friend who answered the phone Tuesday night at the Loscher house. “It’s just real hard. They’re in and out of shock.”

Ernest was Jennifer’s fourth-grade teacher. “She was just loved by everybody,” Ernest said. “She was just a ray of sunshine, just the loveliest human being you can imagine.”

At the hospital Tuesday afternoon, Jennifer Loscher’s longtime baby-sitter, Traci Barnhill, 24, of Carlsbad, came to mourn.

Jennifer had been active in gymnastics, soccer, softball and Girl Scouts, and used to talk “about how I baby-sat her when (she) was little. She also said she would like to baby-sit my baby one day,” Barnhill said, beginning to cry. “She never did.”

An autopsy is set for today, the county medical examiner’s office said.

The 13 injured students were taken to Palomar, Tri-City and Children’s hospitals.

The two most seriously hurt, Christine Kronus, 13, of San Marcos, and Steven Schneider, 13, of San Marcos, were taken to Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where they were in good condition Tuesday night.

Kronus suffered cuts on her neck and arms, hospital spokesman Jim Lee said. Schneider suffered a concussion and head cuts, Lee said. Both teens were being held overnight for observation, he said, adding, “The nurses say they’re in pretty good condition.”

Seven of the 13 were taken to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. All seven had “scrapes, bruises, that type of thing,” and were listed in good condition, said Mary Ann Conover, a hospital spokeswoman.

The remaining four were taken to Palomar Medical Center, where they were listed in fair condition, spokeswoman Amy DeNoble said.

The 12 students who were not hurt were taken to San Marcos Fire Station 1, where they were picked up by their parents.

“When you see the backside of the bus all opened up, you could tell there was significant impact,” said Larry Maw, superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District. “It’s traumatic just to look at it.”

Times staff writers H. G. Reza, Ray Tessler and John H. Lee contributed to this story.

Fatal Crash

A 13-year-old girl was killed and 13 other students were injured when a school bus collided with a motor home Tuesday afternoon. The bus was carrying 26 San Marcos Junior High School students.