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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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mr.bluebird
Active Member
United States
44 Posts |
 Posted - 02/23/2011 : 3:00:25 PM
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| the driver needs to take responsablity for his actions |
YOUR CHILDS SAFETY IS OUR BUSINESS!!! |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2011 : 4:46:21 PM
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Figured I'd post a follow up having read the crash report.
The 2001 International 3800/Blue Bird had 187,525 miles on the odometer at the time of the crash. The bus' ECM showed no defects and that the ABS was functional. Post crash inspection showed no defects other than those caused by the crash and post crash rescue efforts. The steering system was checked as-is and no defects were found. It could not be live-run tested due to the steering wheel and column being destroyed. Tires and brakes were well within specs. An engine fire did result, but it did not spread and was extinguished after around 10 minutes.
On board video system showed the driver rubbing her forehead with her left hand when the bus left the roadway, she retuned the hand to the wheel and steered left, however it was too late. On-scene evidence showed she did not apply the brakes. EMS reports she was awake and aware while being extricated. No other vehicles were involved as she claimed. The bus was traveling around 48 MPH when it left the road.
One student had his arm pinned between a seatback and the crushed ceiling. The driver was completely pinned to the seat by the roof crush. The fatally injuried student's head was between a seatback and the crushed ceiling.
The conslusion is that this accident was caused by the driver failing to negotiate a left curve. Drugs, alcohol and medical factors do not appear to have played a role.
My analysis of it:
Had the student been belted, he likely would have survived. He was seated in the second row on the driver's side. He was propelled upward and forward during the crash sequence and his head happened to be in between the top of the seatback in front of him and the roof when the roofcap slammed into the ground. Same with the boy across the aisle who's arm was pinned.
A lap belt would have allowed his upper body to be propelled forward (belt becomes pivot), head and chest impact forward seatback. Upward travel would be minimum assuming the belt was adjusted snuggly across his pelvis.
A 3 point belt would have largely prevented the forward motion as well as upward motion if properly adjusted. The bus seatbacks were in contact with the roof from the 4th row forward, however no seatbacks were deformed downwards. Blue Bird NYHB seating is 29 1/2" from cushion to top of back when new. That's adequate clearance for a seven year old's upper body.
Now let's make the passenger a high schooler who stands 6' tall. Restrain him with a 3-point belt and crush the roof. You get the idea.
Herein lies the problem with buses without seatbelts AND bus with them. |
Edited by - Thomasbus24 on 05/17/2011 5:19:06 PM |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2011 : 12:51:57 PM
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I cannot hardly believe that this is available to the public, but it is. A notebook flies up and covers the camera before the boy could be clearly seen, but still if you don't like reality, please dont watch. You've been warned.
http://www.whiznews.com/content/video/395234 |
Edited by - Thomasbus24 on 05/31/2011 11:50:31 AM |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2011 : 10:22:55 PM
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When a bus video is in the control of police, lawyers or the court it can become public domain. ABC news tries to copywrite these materials on You Tube and elsewhere but any that get the video direct from one of the original sources can post it.
Very sad, I believe even lapbelts would prevent many of these deaths. Would welcome any of these safety devices for all ages and sizes on any school bus that I would drive. (jk)
Stop Violence on the school buses!
Stop bullying and other violence - Complete with excellent video! According to the American Public Health Association, the school bus is the second most common place for bullying to occur (the first is on the playground). This Fast Track slide presentation can help stop bullying on the school buses. Includes class handouts. Free to use in self-study, for class training, and for presentation to the school board. Click Here for Link (See Post # 14)
Stopping Violence on School Buses: Not an Easy Task but One that Can be Accomplished - Click here for source. |
Edited by - JK on 05/27/2011 10:26:45 PM |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2011 : 11:18:41 PM
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...Failure to maintain control of vehicle? Most drivers do not have the control of their vehicle that they think they do. Haven't myself crashed a bus in all my twenty-some years driving these vehicles or crashed any vehicle after my teenage years. Some skill evolved from crashing in my youth but also accept that luck has played a role.
Some assert that luck has nothing to do with it but it does anyway. Correctly stated would be that slowing down improves ones' luck.
I can agree that the driver must necessarily take some responsibility for the child's death but do not believe the incident was intended or that management was not aware that some of their drivers speed with their buses to maintain what may be an artificial schedule.
It would appear that the driver if speeding did so over a long enough period that traffic would notice this driving behavior and some report it. I see school buses speeding on the roads when traveling and often report the company and bus# to police.
Does not appear to be a new route so certain enough that management likely would know the driver was driving too fast for conditions if edging off the shoulder, but that sort of risk of a crash could also apply to most any road even when driving at the correct speed limit.
Speeding is not an exclusive bus driver issue. Management must also clearly enforce slowing down and maintain schedules that support that enforcement.
In addition most roads are at risk of this very event. Have been there on occasion but was careful not to over compensate, slowed without over correcting and maintained control of the bus.
None of this is given much consideration, it likely will be during litigation.
The lack of skill (or separately the lack of training for these events), loss of license and involuntary manslaughter would seem adequate in this case, in my opinion. (jk)
Stop Violence on the school buses!
Stop bullying and other violence - Complete with excellent video! According to the American Public Health Association, the school bus is the second most common place for bullying to occur (the first is on the playground). This Fast Track slide presentation can help stop bullying on the school buses. Includes class handouts. Free to use in self-study, for class training, and for presentation to the school board. Click Here for Link (See Post # 14)
Stopping Violence on School Buses: Not an Easy Task but One that Can be Accomplished - Click here for source.
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2011 : 11:48:43 AM
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JK, to add more details from the final report and video...
Nobody really knows why this happened. The driver claimed a "regular sized light colored car" came around the curve left of center and she steered right to avoid it. The video proved otherwise, there was no steering movement until the wheels were well off of the roadway. No other vehicles were shown at that time, and those who came upon the scene only seconds after saw no such auto.
A young child on board told investigators that a black truck hit the bus near the front wheels, then once the rollover was done and the rear door had been opened, she saw it turn onto the road north of the scene, stop, then leave. This vehicle also did not exist per video and no paint transfer to the bus. Also the timeline was unrealistic. Probably just wanted to help the driver out of trouble.
In the days following, every possible identication was made of cars seen passing on the video as well as those seen traveling the road around that timeframe in the next few days. Nobody had any knowledge of the crash (other than from the news and word of mouth).
Diabetic shock was thrown around as the driver had wrecked her personal vehicle in nearly the same spot the year prior and blamed that. However, blood tests had her glucose level at 140 while in transit to the hospital, and she had no access to any food or beverage during the hour she was trapped in the bus. Also the EMT who stayed with her in the wreckage and helped cut her out reported she showed no signs of any such condition.
In the video, she is facing forward at least for several seconds prior to crashing. Of course we have no way of knowing where she was actually looking or if she was daydreaming. No signs of falling asleep at the wheel. She did rub her forhead without blocking her view, and shortly after that time the wheels left the roadway, but shw seems totally unaware of that fact for around four seconds. At that time she began to obviously crank the wheel to the left, but she at no time looked panicked until the bus collided with a utility pole and the rollover had begun.
The driver was not speeding in this instance. Posted limit there is 55mph. Her stated speed was 50, using fixed objects/time elapsed in the video, as well as calculations made off of on-scene evidence, the state patrol has crash speed between 45-48. The curve she missed is negotiable at 55.
I really wish we had answers as to why this happened, but we just don't. One person knows (or maybe she honestly doesn't), but regardless she continually lied to investigators.
In any event I look for two things to change in our new school buses as a direct result of this crash:
Right or wrong, 3-point belts for all student seating will be mandated (though already in the works before the crash, "Casey's Law" is currently stalled out).
Driver seat belts will be a contrasting color as IC is already doing. As visible in the vid, the driver in this crash was only using the lap portion of the available 3-point locking belt. The shoulder strap was behind her. This was noted in the report but it appears to have played no role in the event. |
Edited by - Thomasbus24 on 05/31/2011 1:21:34 PM |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2011 : 5:11:10 PM
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Thanks to Bob for linking me to this story...
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110602/NEWS01/106020302/Thomas-family-reflects-one-year-anniversary-bus-crash-killed-6-year-old-son?odyssey=mod|mostcom
DRESDEN -- It's been a year since Joe and Randi Thomas have heard the joyful, boisterous sounds of their 6-year-old son playing with his siblings.
Looking back, they fondly remember how Kasey King-Thomas was full of life and promise.
"He was loud, so I miss the noise," Joe said. "He was always playing with his brother and sister. Karlee, the 4-year-old, talks about him all the time, especially at preschool when it's sharing time. It's nice she knows and remembers him, yet it's a constant reminder."
The 6-year-old Nashport Elementary School student was killed a year ago today and six classmates and bus driver were injured during the school bus crash that occurred on Ohio 60 just south of Fawn Drive.
Driver Carol Oler lost control of the bus that flipped onto its top. She told investigators another vehicle ran her off the road.
Mark Neal, superintendent of Tri-Valley Local Schools, said Oler no longer works for the district and was terminated by the board of education during its May 12 meeting.
After pleading no contest in February to one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and one count of failure to control, Oler was sentenced to 30 days in jail and her license was suspended for two years when she appeared in front of Muskingum County Judge Jay Vinsel on March 31.
Vinsel told Oler he didn't believe her other-car theory and that the incident might not have happened if she had been wearing her own safety equipment, a shoulder harness.
Accident reports and bus video document the vehicle occupants being thrown from their seats as the bus tipped over down an embankment.
Almost immediately after the crash, Kasey's family began to push for required safety belts on school buses to restrain all passengers and possibly avoid another tragedy and the pain they've endured.
"If smaller kids are required to be in booster seats (in other vehicles), it should be the same for buses," Thomas said. "If they had harnesses, it could have helped and could have saved Kasey. I wish this -- Kasey's Law -- could be done in Kasey's memory and help save other kids so nobody has to go through it."
Last year the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee began exploring possible legislation that would require all school buses bought or refurbished after 2014 to have seat belts installed by the manufacturer.
Although the issue has fallen by the wayside, Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, who is a member of the committee, said it is not out of the question.
"A couple other representatives are contemplating it, gathering more information, and we'd like to bring it forward again," he said. "I was always going to support it, but I want to get more input and adjust some things. We want to try to make this legislation. It will be a hard bill to get passed, but we want to make sure it's done and done correctly."
Today Kasey's family plans to place a tall reflective cross facing south, in addition to a cross that is already at the site, as well as other sentimental items, such as stuffed animals and a soccer ball.
Neal said the school district continues to plan a memorial for Kasey at a later date.
"We just don't feel it's the right time, but we will do something at some point to memorialize him," he said. "It's a tragedy for all parties involved. It's unfortunate, and there's no great solution. We hope to move forward, and hope the family is doing the same."
"It's been a tough year, from time to time hard to take with him being just a kid," Thomas said. "I miss him being around."
hrichards@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com; (740) 450-6772 |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2011 : 8:04:55 PM
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"JK, to add more details from the final report and video..."
Very well presented post. The bus driver not speeding is a big plus for the driver and the district involved. The driver sitting forward rubbing her head indicates something, uncertain what. Not blocking her view while rubbing her forhead would seem to indicate she was awake at the time but not necesarily aware of the approaching corner. Police and investigators know it is not unusual that a driver's story will change, especially when reporting while still in shock and some other story during recovery. All sorts of odd recalls can happen. Witness reports can be way out of whack with the facts, especially children's reports. What is evident is that whatever the available viewing range of the video and also various reports indicated it unlikely a car or other vehicle came toward the bus or struck the bus.
Not myself been in a school bus crash with other than a trash can that blew in to the path of the bus during a storm. I was checking the driver-side mirror when the event happened. Kept the bus in my lane rather than some sort of overreaction happening in response to the loud boom, no panic swerve of the bus in to oncoming traffic or in some other direction. Regardless, even that minor an event lead to several versions from me, none of it for the purpose of lying. A HS student on the bus also had a witness story, stating that our bus was struck on the driver's side by a white pickup. I was checking the driver's mirror at the same time the loud boom happened and saw no such event, nor was there any damage to that side of the bus. Another calmer student said the bus hit a trash can.
I'm not saying the driver was necessarily honest in her reports. What remains odd is the rubbing of the head. This activity has not been adequately answered. (jk)
Stop Violence on the school buses!
Stop bullying and other violence - Complete with excellent video! According to the American Public Health Association, the school bus is the second most common place for bullying to occur (the first is on the playground). This Fast Track slide presentation can help stop bullying on the school buses. Includes class handouts. Free to use in self-study, for class training, and for presentation to the school board. Click Here for Link (See Post # 14)
Stopping Violence on School Buses: Not an Easy Task but One that Can be Accomplished - Click here for source.
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Edited by - JK on 06/03/2011 8:24:58 PM |
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Fatal Ohio bus rollover--Video Available
