|
 |
 |
|
NTSB: NY bus that killed 15 in crash was not hit by truck
-
04/15/11 05:38 PM ET
A bus that crashed in the Bronx and killed 15 people was not hit by a truck as the driver claimed, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.
The bus was carrying senior citizens back to New York City after a trip to a casino in Connecticut.
The NTSB released its preliminary findings into the March 17 crash that, along with other accidents in New Jersey and New Hampshire, prompted Congress to take up bus safety legislation.
"The motorcoach driver stated that a truck-tractor semitrailer encroached into his lane, striking his vehicle," the NTSB report said. "A truck driver subsequently identified himself as a witness to the accident. NTSB investigators interviewed the truck driver and conducted a focused examination of the combination vehicle, including taking dimensional measurements of the truck-tractor and semitrailer. No evidence was found that would correspond to a potential area of contact between the bus and the combination vehicle."
Using an electronic control module that was on the engine of the bus, operated by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based World Wide Travel, the NTSB found that the bus was traveling at 78 miles per hour seconds before the crash. The speed limit on the Bronx highway was 55 miles per hour.
NTSB said the company had received a "satisfactory" safety compliance rating from the Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration in September 2008.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee's Surface Transportation subcommittee held hearings about increasing bus safety last month. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have co-sponsored a bill to require seatbelts on buses.
The bus was carrying senior citizens back to New York City after a trip to a casino in Connecticut.
The NTSB released its preliminary findings into the March 17 crash that, along with other accidents in New Jersey and New Hampshire, prompted Congress to take up bus safety legislation.
"The motorcoach driver stated that a truck-tractor semitrailer encroached into his lane, striking his vehicle," the NTSB report said. "A truck driver subsequently identified himself as a witness to the accident. NTSB investigators interviewed the truck driver and conducted a focused examination of the combination vehicle, including taking dimensional measurements of the truck-tractor and semitrailer. No evidence was found that would correspond to a potential area of contact between the bus and the combination vehicle."
Using an electronic control module that was on the engine of the bus, operated by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based World Wide Travel, the NTSB found that the bus was traveling at 78 miles per hour seconds before the crash. The speed limit on the Bronx highway was 55 miles per hour.
NTSB said the company had received a "satisfactory" safety compliance rating from the Federal Motor Coach Safety Administration in September 2008.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee's Surface Transportation subcommittee held hearings about increasing bus safety last month. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have co-sponsored a bill to require seatbelts on buses.
