School Bus/Dump Truck Collision:
Central Bridge, New York

School Bus/Dump Truck Collision:
Central Bridge, New York

On November 14, 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the investigation of the tragic school bus/dump truck crash that occurred on October 21, 1999, in Central Bridge, New York. The Executive Summary, Conclusions, Probable Cause, and Safety Recommendations from that report follow.

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD
Public Meeting of November 14, 2000
Abstract of Final Report
(Subject to Editing)

Highway Accident Report
School Bus and Dump Truck Collision
Central Bridge, New York
October 21, 1999

This is an abstract from the Safety Board's report and does not include the Board's rationale for the conclusions and safety recommendations. Safety Board staff is currently making final revisions to the report from which the attached conclusions, probable cause, and safety recommendations have been extracted. The final report and pertinent safety recommendation letters wi11 be distributed to recommendation recipients and investigation parties as soon as possible. The following information is subject to further review and editing.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At about 10:30am on October 21, 1999 in Schoharie County, New York, a Kinnicut Bus Company school bus was transporting 44 students, 5 to 9 years, old, and 8 adults on an Albany City School No. 18 field trip. The bus was traveling north on State Route 30A as it approached the intersection of State Route 7, which is about 1.5 miles east of Central Bridge, New York. Concurrently, an MVF Construction Company dump truck, towing a utility trailer, was traveling west on State Route 7. The dump truck was occupied by the driver and a passenger. As the bus approached the intersection, it failed to stop as required and was stuck by the dump truck. Seven bus passengers sustained serious injuries; 28 bus passengers and the truck driver received minor injuries. Thirteen bus passengers, the bus driver and the truck passenger were uninjured.

The following major safety issues were identified in this accident:

The medical fitness of commercial drivers and the medical examination for the commercial driver's license were also identified as safety issues; however, these issues will be analyzed in a forthcoming Safety Board special investigation report.

As a result of this accident, the Safety Board adopted safety recommendation to the National Highway traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Association, and Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

PROBABLE CAUSE
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the school bus driver's failure to stop for the stop sign due to his degraded performance or lapse of attention as a result of factors associated with aging or his medical condition or both.

SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
As a result of this investigation, the National Transportation safety Board makes the following recommendations:

--To the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

1. Modify the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to prohibit protruding door handles or latching mechanisms on emergency exit doors.

2. Modify the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to include the requirement that school bus seat cushion bottoms be installed with fail-safe latching devices to ensure they remain in their installed position during impacts and rollovers. (H-OO-XX)

--To the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:

3. Advise relevant staff of the importance of the requiring a brake application during inspections of tractor protection systems and the consequences of not doing so, as evidenced by the circumstance of this accidents (H-OO-XX)

--To the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services:

4. Inform your members again of the safety hazards of not ensuring that the seat cushion bottom latching clips are properly latched at all times. (H-OO-XX)

5. Inform your members of the potential for injury to child passengers from protruding door handles or latching mechanisms on side emergency exit doors. Consider not placing children in those seat positions adjacent to side emergency exit doors.

--To the Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance:

6. Advise your members of the importance of requiring a brake application during inspections of tractor protection systems and the consequences of not doing to, as evidenced by the circumstances of this accident. (H-OO-XX)

The Safety board also reiterated the following safety recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

H-99-046

The School Bus Information Council believes the Safety Board did a thorough and careful investigation of the crash, as reflected in the Conclusions and Probable Cause. The seriousness of the issues identified in this report can not be overstated. Of particular interest are the factors that may have affected the school bus driver's performance. These factors would apply to drivers of any motor vehicle, not just a school bus.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that the Safety Board was unable to determine whether the lap belts that were installed in this school bus actually reduced the risk of injury to any child that was restrained by the lap belt. This conclusion is consistent with the findings and conclusions of all other Safety Board investigations that have been conducted during the past two decades.

The School Bus Information Council believes the Safety Recommendations issued by the Safety Board deserve full consideration by the organizations to which they were made.