While this winter has posed some challenges to motorists, Stephen O’Haire, school director of transportation, is pleased with the performance of First Student, which holds the contract for busing Warwick students.

“I think they are good,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

O’Haire was contacted after the mother of a Gorton student called the newspaper to report a bus had been involved in a minor accident Tuesday morning. She said the same driver had been involved in an accident on Feb. 25. The mother questioned what action, if any, the bus company would take.

O’Haire was familiar with both accidents. He called them different. He noted in the Feb. 25 accident that occurred on Asylum Road in the afternoon, the bus was stopped and was struck by a vehicle.

“It was directly related to weather,” he said. There were no student injuries in the accident, and First Student sent another bus to complete the route.

In Tuesday’s accident, the bus was on its morning run when the left rear fender clipped a stopped car as it made a turn from Warwick Neck Avenue onto Samuel Gorton Avenue. There were no injuries, and after police cleared the scene the bus continued on its way to Gorton.

The mother said students texted their parents that they were OK and waiting for police. She said see saw no need to rush to the scene.

Although snow was not a factor in Tuesday’s accident, Susan Barber, Warwick manager for First Student, said this has been an especially difficult winter for drivers, with streets narrowed by snow banks and icy and slippery conditions. She believes there has been a higher than usual number of minor accidents, although the numbers weren’t readily available. First Student operates 92 buses in Warwick. She said safety is a company priority.

“Safety is at the forefront. We want to make sure [the students are] safe.”

As for procedures following an accident, regardless of how minor, she said the company looks to establish who is at fault. The driver involved is given a test drive and, if necessary, additional training.

Barber said all drivers are required to take 10 hours of training annually. She said the company also conducts “mirror clinics” to ensure that drivers properly adjust mirrors. Buses are 40 feet long and drivers depend on mirrors to know where they are, she said.