HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT-MULTIPLE COLLISION WITH AN INTERCITY CHARTER BUS, PASSENGER CAR, AND TRANSIT BUS, STATE ROUTE 495, NORTH BERGEN, NEW JERSEY, OCTOBER 9, 1986

About 7:34 a.m. on October 9, 1986, two charter intercity tour buses loaded with European tourists were traveling westbound in the right lane on State Route (SR) 495 in North Bergen, New Jersey, en route to Washington D.C. As the westbound buses approached the Kennedy Boulevard exit on SR 495, the second bus suddenly veered leftward into the adjacent lane, struck the left rear of a passenger car traveling in that lane, then crossed into the eastbound contraflow lane, and struck a transit bus loaded with commuter passengers en route to New York City. One bus passenger aboard the transit bus was fatally injured and 26 other occupants aboard both buses sustained serious to minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the distraction of the charter bus driver from his driving duties while assisting a bus passenger with a CB radio which resulted in his failure to remain within the proper traffic lane while traveling in a construction zone.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1987-10-27

Media Info

• Pagination: 42 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Bus drivers; Buses; Charter operations; Construction sites; Contraflow lanes; Crash causes; Crashes; Distraction; Drivers; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00468502
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/HAR-87/06
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1988 12:00AM