HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT. MULTIPLE-VEHICLE COLLISION, FOLLOWED BY PROPYLENE CARGO-TANK EXPLOSION, NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE, EXIT 8, SEPTEMBER 21, 1972

The report describes and analyzes a series of collisions which occurred in the northbound and southbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike on September 21, 1972. A southbound Greyhound bus was sideswiped by an overtaking tractor-semitrailer which was carrying propylene. The tractor-semitrailer then overrode the median guardrail, jack-kinfed, and overturned in the northbound lanes. Two persons in an automobile which collided with the overturned cargo-tank semitrailer were killed in the collision or in the fire which followed. About 25 minutes after the collisions, the cargo tank exploded; sections of the tank rocketed 1,307 feet northeast and 500 feet southwest of the point of overturn. Twenty-eight persons were injured in the explosion. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the initial collision was the evasive steering and skidding of the bus into the path of the overtaking tractor-semitrailer.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Office of Surface Transportation Safety
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1973-10-17

Media Info

• Pagination: 40 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buses; Crash injury research; Crash investigation; Crashes; Explosions; Fatalities; Fires; Research; Tank trucks; Traffic crashes
• Identifier Terms: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents; Propylene
• Old TRIS Terms: Ntsb
• Subject Areas: Public Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00051608
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-HAR-73-4
• Files: NTIS
• Created Date: Mar 25 1974 12:00AM