HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT: COLLISION OF SMALL SCHOOL BUS AND TRACTOR-SEMITRAILER NEAR SNYDER, OKLAHOMA, NOVEMBER 10, 1993

About 3:28 p.m. on November 10, 1993, near Snyder, Oklahoma, a tractor-semitrailer traveling southbound on U.S. Route 183 struck a 1993 Thomas Built Minotour school bus that was crossing the highway while traveling west on County Line Road. The 20-passenger school bus was occupied by the driver and nine children. The school bus driver said that she stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded to drive across Route 183. The truck driver stated that the school bus driver hesitated and then pulled out in front of his truck. The school bus was struck in the right side behind the right-front entrance door. Eight children were not wearing the available lapbelts and were ejected. Four of the ejected children died; the injuries of the other four ranged from minor to serious. One child, the only occupant of the bus who was restrained was not ejected; he received minor injuries. The school bus driver was not ejected, but she was not wearing the lap-shoulder restraint and sustained severe injuries from contact with various parts of the bus interior. The truck driver, who stated that he was wearing his lapbelt, received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was that the school bus driver did not see the approaching truck because hew view was obstructed, because she had not been provided with an effective strategy or other means for overcoming the view obstruction, and because she may have been distracted by the unruly passengers. Contributing to the severity of the accident were the truck driver's failure to observe the speed advisory and the Cornell Construction Company's failure to systematically maintain the accident truck. The safety issues identified in this accident are the protection provided school bus occupants, the performance of the school bus driver and the view obstruction in the bus, the performance of the truck driver, and the adequacy of motor carrier oversight. As a result of the investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board makes recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Governors of the 50 States and the mayor of the District of Columbia, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Service, and the Cornell Construction Company.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1994-11-29

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: 65 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus crashes; Crash causes; Crash severity; Driver performance; Drivers; Ejection; Fatalities; Injuries; Manual safety belts; Motor carriers; Oversight; Personnel performance; Recommendations; School bus drivers; School buses; Speeding; Tractor trailer combinations; Truck drivers; Trucks; Vehicle maintenance
• Old TRIS Terms: Truck maintenance; View obstruction
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; Public Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00675383
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/HAR-94/04, Notation 6491
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 27 1995 12:00AM