Head -On Accident Developing Thoughts?

[Gale Hawkins]

Raw Video: Car Hits School Bus Head-On - YouTube

Those of us living in rural areas on two lane roads are at risk like in the video.

This school bus accident video supports my training of the kids to stay in your lane to decrease your risk. There can be no 100% right answer. Besides the legal issues there is the law of motion. In this case most likely the car was passing so for the bus to go left was not possible. Had the bus not left its lane the car in error may have missed or just clipped the bus.

Not sure what I would do in the moment however.

 

[Ken]

Raw Video: Car Hits School Bus Head-On - YouTube

Those of us living in rural areas on two lane roads are at risk like in the video.

This school bus accident video supports my training of the kids to stay in your lane to decrease your risk. There can be no 100% right answer. Besides the legal issues there is the law of motion. In this case most likely the car was passing so for the bus to go left was not possible. Had the bus not left its lane the car in error may have missed or just clipped the bus.

Not sure what I would do in the moment however.

Gale wasn't the bus driver doing what is taught to avoid and accident. He was giving the car a opening by moving to the right. The vehicle driver may have been looking for his dropped cell phone.
Recently driving country road black top 12' lanes and at a 90 deg. curve a large blue Ford van was coming around with rear trying to pass the front. so my decission was to hit broad side or take the ditch I chose the ditch. messed up my vehicle and the van never stopped so don't know the cause of his problem was.
ken

 

[creekbend]

Although, no one on the bus was seriously hurt, I have often pondered and questioned the following regulations regarding school buses. Why are seat belts not required to be on school buses for the passengers? The bus driver has one. Just a thought?

 

[aczlan]

Although, no one on the bus was seriously hurt, I have often pondered and questioned the following regulations regarding school buses. Why are seat belts not required to be on school buses for the passengers? The bus driver has one. Just a thought?

NY requires that they be installed in any post 1984 bus, but leaves it up to school boards to mandate use. In a front/rear collision, the seat-backs do more to help than belts would, but in a side impact or a rollover, belts are invaluable.

Aaron Z

 

[Scooby074]

3 less meth heads in the car.

Thank God none of the kids nor the bus driver were killed.

 

[randy41]

the seats in a school bus are designed to absorb and cushion the impact of a flying body. since it seems like there were no serious injuries on the bus it looks like it works.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Gale wasn't the bus driver doing what is taught to avoid and accident. He was giving the car a opening by moving to the right. The vehicle driver may have been looking for his dropped cell phone.
Recently driving country road black top 12' lanes and at a 90 deg. curve a large blue Ford van was coming around with rear trying to pass the front. so my decission was to hit broad side or take the ditch I chose the ditch. messed up my vehicle and the van never stopped so don't know the cause of his problem was.
ken

The school bus driver attempts to leave the marked lane of travel and gets hit by the driver in error who is attempting to completely miss the school bus as I view the video. Moving targets are hard to both hit or miss it seems. It is clear from the video the bus driver compounded that risks to the kids by attempting to leave the roadway.

There is no right or wrong answer in these cases because there are too many variables.

Of course the bus had 'mass' in its favor.

Had the driver of the car stayed in the left lane of the road the bus driver action in hindsight would have permitted the car impact the side of the bus which we know from the Cottonwood MN bus accident a few years ago can be more deadly than a head on crash.

As it turned out the end results of the bus driver's action yielded good results for the kids but the question that I raised could the accident been avoided perhaps had the bus driver treated the car more like it was a deer by not trying to leave the roadway?

It appears straight braking by the bus would have prevented impact due to the angle of the car when it crossed the line. The car in front of the bus got luck I expect in his/her mind.

 

[creekbend]

3 less meth heads in the car.

Thank God none of the kids nor the bus driver were killed.

The driver of the car might have had a cardiac arrest or some other possible medical emergency. Just a thought.

 

[sandman2234]

Z

Raw Video: Car Hits School Bus Head-On - YouTube

Those of us living in rural areas on two lane roads are at risk like in the video.

This school bus accident video supports my training of the kids to stay in your lane to decrease your risk. There can be no 100% right answer. Beside
s the legal issues there is the law of motion. In this case most likely the car was passing so for the bus to go left was not possible. Had the bus not left its lane the car in error may have missed or just clipped the bus.

Not sure what I would do in the moment however.

It is not just rural 2 lane roads...
I was passiing another truck on the interstate , on a long curve and noticed headlights seeming to be in my lane. When I confirmed that miliseconds later, I just turned the wheel, figuring a side impact was better than a head-on. They got the drunk lady in a Buick 225 traveling at over 100mph stopped 20 miles south of where she entered the wrong Interstate ramp. She didn't hit anyone at 3am.
david from jax

 

[Scooby074]

The driver of the car might have had a cardiac arrest or some other possible medical emergency. Just a thought.

Maybe from the METH in his system

"Driver Raymond P. Kane III, 51, and passengers Barbara Jean Scott, 39, and Jerry A. Carrasco, 30, were each under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the crash, according to autopsy results released by the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office.

Kane's autopsy revealed that his blood tested positive for amphetamines and marijuana, and his urine also tested positive for cocaine and oxycodone. Carrasco's blood tested positive for amphetamines, marijuana and oxycodone, while Scott's blood tested positive for amphetamines."

Drugs found in 3 who died in car-bus crash

 

[MoKelly]

The driver of the car might have had a cardiac arrest or some other possible medical emergency. Just a thought.

I agree. From the video it makes no sense why th ecar was in the wrong lane. The first car goes by fine and seconds later the other car appears in the wrong lane. Something is really wrong.

MoKelly

 

[Gator6x4]

In defensive driving they teach "Turn to the Right", Never turn Left". Most trucking and bus companies will dismiss if a driver turns left or does not turn right and is involved in an accident. I would have reacted the same as the bus driver. The interesting thing is no-one from the bus went to check on the people in the car.

 

[Bird]

Yep, in my opinion, the bus driver did the right thing to try to avoid the accident when he saw a car coming at him in his lane. Sure, he might have avoided the accident in this particular case if he'd stayed in his lane, but that would not have been the logical thing to do.

Seat belts in school busses? And who is going to monitor each child to see that they're buckled in? Actually, I think it's probably a good idea, but have doubts about it actually saving any lives. Incidentally, when I was a schoolbus driver, the driver didn't even have a seat belt; nor did I have one in my own car.:laughing: The first half of the school year, I was driving the school's oldest bus, a 1952 International, and the second half of the school year, I had the school's newest bus, a 1957 International. In those days, it was manual transmissions, no power steering, and the only outside mirror was on the driver's side. When I took a bus load of kids to the State Fair of Texas, in all that Dallas traffic, I sure would have liked to have the mirrors they have now.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, the bus driver did the right thing. Even though the bus won that collision, I bet the people on the bus were stunned. You can see the front of the bus come up in the air a little bit, and I'm sure it was a heck of an impact inside the bus. Check on the people in the car? The tape doesn't run long enough to know what the people on the bus did.

 

[dave1949]

Maybe it's just coincidence, but the past few years it seems like more people take the center line as a "suggestion" rather than something you don't cross and you don't drive on with the left-side wheels of your vehicle. I mean, it's really basic safety stuff: stay on your own side of the road, don't take your half out of the middle. I don't get it.

The other day I met a van in the middle of the road on a blind curve! I wasn't close, but I could see it gave the van driver a thrill getting back to her side of road in time to miss me.

Doesn't apply to this video of course, but just an observation.

 

[brin]

As I am getting older I have begun to realize more than ever the inherent danger of 2 lane roads....whether they are in the country or not...When you really stop and think just a foot or two from you is another vehicle going in the opposite direction at least 55 mph...and just one dropped item, cell phone distraction, text message etc. separates us from life or death ...it gets unnerving...I find , I am always driving very defensively and anticipating where I could go should an oncoming car come into my lane....Dangerous roads for sure.

 

[creekbend]

Maybe from the METH in his system

"Driver Raymond P. Kane III, 51, and passengers Barbara Jean Scott, 39, and Jerry A. Carrasco, 30, were each under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the crash, according to autopsy results released by the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office.

Kane's autopsy revealed that his blood tested positive for amphetamines and marijuana, and his urine also tested positive for cocaine and oxycodone. Carrasco's blood tested positive for amphetamines, marijuana and oxycodone, while Scott's blood tested positive for amphetamines."

Drugs found in 3 who died in car-bus crash

Thanks for the Heads Up. I was unaware of that info. When I saw the video, I didn't see these facts mentioned. Thanks again.

 

[Gator6x4]

As I am getting older I have begun to realize more than ever the inherent danger of 2 lane roads....whether they are in the country or not...When you really stop and think just a foot or two from you is another vehicle going in the opposite direction at least 55 mph...and just one dropped item, cell phone distraction, text message etc. separates us from life or death ...it gets unnerving...I find , I am always driving very defensively and anticipating where I could go should an oncoming car come into my lane....Dangerous roads for sure.

Sat through a lecture by a Traffic Safety Expert one time. He advised when we meet someone traveling in the opposite direction on a two lane highway we are only seperated from them by eighteen to twenty four inches. He then asked the question how many would stand against a wall and let a random sampling of drivers currently driving down any two lane highway shoot a handgun at a target eighteen to twenty four inches from them. No one raised there hand to volunteer.

 

[sodamo]

Interesting. I suspect individual situations have to be taken into account.

My wife was involved in a head on collision. 18 yo returning from a rave crossed the line on a 2 lane north of Atlanta as she was driving to church.
Our neighbor across the street was a professional accident investigator. The next day, when my wife was recovering in trauma ICU, he took me back to the scene to document everything. Besides all the measuring etc, I was a bit amazed when he started discussing if and how my wife could have avoided the accident. He determined she did not have time to do so and if she had and missed the telephone, the rather large trees just over the edge would have done her in. Had she been able to avoid the collision, the other vehicle would have likely continued on its way and she would also have been the responsible party. When she was later deposed, the defendants insurance company again brought up if she could have avoided the accident. I really liked my neighbor at that point.

Strangest part to me was there was never a drug or alcohol determination of the 18 yo, not even from hospital blood tests.

When the case went to court, his parents paid a fine for failure to maintain lane resulting in an accident - $75.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Scooby074]

Thanks for the Heads Up. I was unaware of that info. When I saw the video, I didn't see these facts mentioned. Thanks again.

Your welcome. The fact that the driver was impaired by drugs might shed some light on the accident. Who knows what was going though his mind... Suicide??