2006 Huntsville bus crash
{{Short description|School bus crash in Huntsville, Alabama, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = Huntsville bus crash
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| date = November 20, 2006
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| location = Huntsville, Alabama
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| country = United States
| line = School bus
| operator = Laidlaw Transit
| owner = Laidlaw Transit
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| type = Fall from bridge
| cause =
| bus = School Bus
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| vehicles =Toyota Celica
| passengers = 41(1 in Celica)
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| deaths = 4
| injuries = 33
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| footnotes =5 people were uninjured, 3 on the school bus, and 2 in the Celica.
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The Huntsville bus crash involved a school bus carrying 40 students from Lee High School and a car, both heading to the Huntsville Center for Technology, which occurred on November 20, 2006, on an elevated portion of Interstate 565 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Incident
On November 20, 2006, around 10 a.m., a International school bus carrying 40 students from Lee High School to the Huntsville Center for Technology was traveling in the left lane on the elevated two-lane I-565. A 1990 Toyota Celica driven by another Lee High student merged from the left lane to the right and accelerated to pass the bus, but his vehicle began to fishtail and became impossible to control.{{Cite web|last=National Transportation Safety Board|date=November 19, 2009|title=Highway Accident Brief|url=https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/hab0902.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725140202/https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/hab0902.pdf |archive-date=July 25, 2021 |access-date=December 28, 2020|website=National Transportation Safety Board}} A student on the bus stated that he saw the car attempted to overtake the bus and lose control, but closed his eyes and grabbed his seat after the collision.{{Cite web|last=Hunter|first=Desiree|date=December 8, 2006|title=Lee High School students recall fatal bus ride to tech: Teens talk about feelings, events leading up to wreck|url=http://archive.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061208/crash.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226002113/http://archive.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061208/crash.shtml |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |access-date=2020-12-28|website=archive.decaturdaily.com}}
Police said that the bus went over the side of the road after a car driven by another Lee High student tried to swerve around the bus, causing the bus driver to swerve going over the edge of the elevated roadway.{{cite web|url=http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005595285|title=Bus Accident Update: Fourth Student Dies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216190503/http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005595285|archive-date=February 16, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=2006-12-21|df=mdy-all}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2017}} The driver was ejected from the bus before it went over the side of the bridge, as he was not wearing a seat belt.{{Cite web|url=https://whnt.com/2016/11/18/remembering-the-lee-high-school-bus-crash/|title=Remembering the Lee High School Bus Crash|last=Cantrell|first=Aaron|date=2016-11-19|website=WHNT.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-07}} The bus hit the 32-inch-high cement bridge rail and rode the top of the rail for 117 feet before it plunged over the side.{{Cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2016/11/finding_life_after_death_10_ye.html|title=Finding life after death 10 years after school bus crash killed four|last=Dunigan|first=Jonece Starr|date=2016-11-20|website=al.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-07}} The NTSB report for the crash stated that the bus had nose-dived into the ground before coming to a stop.{{Cite web|last=Paker|first=Dallas|date=2019-11-21|title=First responders and survivor remember Lee High School bus crash|url=https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/first-responders-and-survivor-remember-lee-high-school-bus-crash/|access-date=2020-12-28|website=WHNT.com|language=en-US}}
In later interviews students said that many grabbed for other students to help them brace and keep them from falling forward to varying degrees of success. A student recounted that some students were able to evacuate the bus on their own via the emergency door in the back and ceiling of the vehicle. Some students also reportedly tried to enter back into the bus to help students pinned between the seats.
Four students were killed and 33 were injured after the bus plunged almost {{convert|40|ft|m}}. Of the four, all were female students who ranged in age from 16 to 19 years old.
Investigation
The initial investigation indicated that the secondary car that had attempted to overtake the bus had veered into the bus's lane, causing it to scrape along the concrete barrier. The teenage driver of the second car claimed that a part of the vehicle had malfunctioned and caused the car to drift into the other lane.{{Cite web|last=Dornin|first=Rusty|date=November 21, 2006|title=Fourth teen dies in Alabama school bus crash - CNN.com|url=https://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/21/bus.crash/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121194639/http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/21/bus.crash/index.html |archive-date=November 21, 2006 |access-date=2020-12-28|website=www.cnn.com}} Investigators raised potential theories that the car might have had a malfunction in the steering system. A criminal investigation into the crash was closed without charges after toxicology reports for both the bus and car drivers were found to be negative for controlled substances or alcohol.{{Cite web|author=((Staff Reports))|date=2008-11-27|title=Suits in fatal 2006 Huntsville school bus crash settled|url=https://www.clantonadvertiser.com/2008/11/27/suits-in-fatal-2006-huntsville-school-bus-crash-settled/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516192806/https://www.clantonadvertiser.com/2008/11/27/suits-in-fatal-2006-huntsville-school-bus-crash-settled/ |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |access-date=2020-12-28|website=The Clanton Advertiser}}
An investigation into the crash was opened by the NTSB and later closed after three years of study. The investigation concluded that the driver had lost control of the vehicle during a "passing manevour" around a curve, during the same time that the driver of a Toyota Celica attempted to overtake the bus prior to an upcoming exit.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 12, 2016|title=10 Years Later: Lee High School bus crash|url=https://www.waff.com/story/33737791/10-years-later-lee-high-school-bus-crash|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120137/http://www.waff.com/story/33737791/10-years-later-lee-high-school-bus-crash |archive-date=November 19, 2016 |access-date=2020-12-28|website=WAFF48|language=en-US}}
Legal fallout
The families of the four teenagers killed in the crash filed lawsuits shortly after the incident. The suits named Laidlaw Transit, Anthony Scott, the school bus driver and the driver of the Toyota Celica as defendants, and each suit was settled in 2008.{{Cite web|last=Gentle|first=Elizabeth|date=November 26, 2008|title=Four death suits settled in Lee High Bus Crash|url=https://www.waff.com/story/9421238/four-death-suits-settled-in-lee-high-bus-crash|access-date=2020-12-28|website=WAFF48|language=en-US}} Additional lawsuits were filed by families of about two dozen students who were injured and settled after the first four suits.
Aftermath
The crash was extensively covered by CNN and USA Today.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/20/bus.crash/index.html|title=At least 3 students killed in school bus crash|author=|date=|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 2, 2016}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-20-ala-bus_x.htm?csp=34|title=3 students killed in school bus crash in Alabama|author=|date=|work=USA Today|access-date=November 2, 2016}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2017}} A photograph of James "Rusty" Edward Moore Jr. sitting next to his girlfriend who was covered by a blanket went viral, as many thought Moore Jr was sitting next to a dead body. The girlfriend, however, was just resting and cold.
The crash reignited debate over the installation of seat belts in buses, and whether Alabama should follow the lead of states such as Florida in legislating compulsory lap belts.{{cite web|url=http://whnt.com/2012/08/31/story-of-strength-meet-maddie-jamieson/|title=Story of Strength: Meet Maddie Jamieson|author=|date=September 1, 2012|location = |publisher=WHNT-TV|access-date=November 2, 2016}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2017}} Following the crash Alabama Governor Bob Riley ordered a report be made into the issue. A study group consisting of education and transport officials interviewed 17 expert witnesses, and in early 2007 released recommendations that a pilot program be run with lap and shoulder belts being installed in a limited number of new buses from 2008.{{cite web |url = http://www.al.com/huntsvilletimes/documents/seatbelts.pdf |title = Recommendations from the Governor's Study Group on School Bus Seat Belts |access-date = July 13, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031505/http://www.al.com/huntsvilletimes/documents/seatbelts.pdf |archive-date = September 30, 2007 |url-status=dead |df = mdy-all }}{{full citation needed|date=December 2017}}
A similar crash occurred on November 21, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a school bus driver lost control of a bus causing it to roll over on its side and crash into a tree, killing six students and injuring 23.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100605205855/http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2009/HAB0902.pdf NTSB Highway Accident Brief HWY-07-MH-007: School Bus Bridge Override Following Collision With Passenger Vehicle], Huntsville, Alabama, November 20, 2006
{{School bus crashes}}
{{Coord|34.73715|N|86.59298|W|display=title|type:event}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Huntsville, Alabama Bus Crash}}
Category:Madison County, Alabama
Category:Transportation disasters in Alabama