HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT--SCHOOLBUS-LOSS OF CONTROL AND COLLISION WITH GUARD RAIL AND SIGN PILLAR, U.S. HIGHWAY 70 NEAR LUCAS AND HUNT ROAD, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, NOVEMBER 11, 1985

About 2:43 p.m. central standard time on November 11, 1985, a schoolbus owned by R. W. Harmon and Sons, Inc., was eastbound on I-70 transporting 13 high school students to their homes in St. Louis, Missouri, from the Parkway North Senior High School. As the schoolbus was approaching the Lucas and Hunt Road exit it went out of control, swerved to the right, and the right front of the schoolbus struck a guard rail, a concrete pedestal, and a sign support pillar located adjacent to the right eastbound roadway. The schoolbus body and the steering axle separated from the chassis during the collision. The weather was cloudy and the pavement was dry. The schoolbus did not catch fire. Two students were killed; the schoolbus driver and one student sustained serious injuries, and the remaining 10 students sustained minor to moderate injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the operation of the schoolbus at an excessive speed and in a reckless manner by a driver under the influence of alcohol. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the use of a guard rail of insufficient height and stiffness to deflect the schoolbus body away from the concrete pedestal and sign support pillar.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1987-4-14

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: 48 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash severity; Crashes; Driving; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Guardrails; Injuries; Reckless drivers; School bus drivers; School buses; Speeding; Structural design
• Subject Areas: Highways; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00493562
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/HAR-87/02, HS-040 263
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 30 1990 12:00AM