HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT--CHURCH BUS LOSS OF CONTROL ON LONG STEEP GRADE, STATE ROUTE 155, NEAR WOFFORD HEIGHTS, CALIFORNIA, JULY 7, 1984

About 4:05 p.m. on July 7, 1984, a bus owned and operated by a church accelerated out of control while descending a long steep grade on State Route 155 near Wofford Heights, California. The bus failed to negotiate a curve, left the road, and rolled to the right down a steep 28-foot embankment before coming to rest. Two of the 41 bus occupants were killed, 9 occupants sustained moderate to severe injuries, and 30 occupants received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the busdriver to appropriately respond to the warning sign and to use the vehicle's transmission and service brakes properly to control the vehicle's speed while descending the steep grade.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1985-3-5

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 19 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automated vehicle control; Bus drivers; Buses; Crash causes; Crash reports; Downgrades (Roads); Single vehicle crashes
• Old TRIS Terms: Downgrade; Runaway vehicles
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00452370
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/HAR-85/01, HS-038 774
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 31 1986 12:00AM