New York Public Transportation
Safety Board
New York State Department of Transportation

Public Meeting of October 28, 1992
Abstract of Final Report
Case #2061

Gray Line Tours Of New York (International Bus Services) Fatal Bus Crash
Interstate Route 87, Southbound Schroon Lake, Essex County, New York, April 11, 1992

[Editor's note: The tour bus was returning a group of 28 students from a weekend activity trip to Montreal. Following the accident Field Trip Guidelines for Student Travel were developed and published in the New York School Executives Bulletin.]

Executive Summary

    At approximately 4:30 p.m., a Gray Line Tours of New York charter bus, with a driver and 30 passengers, primarily students from the Woodlawn School District, was traveling south on I-87 (Northway) in the town of Schroon Lake, Essex County, when the driver lost control of the bus and veered to the right shoulder striking the cable rail guideway system. The bus rotated clockwise 180 degrees, traveled across the roadway backwards, struck the left side cable rail guideway system, overturned and rolled down an embankment. The bus came to rest in an upright position, at the base of a 70 foot grade in a small creek bed. Six to eight passengers were ejected. Twenty eight passengers, and the driver, received various injuries from moderate to critical, and two passengers died.
As a result of the accident, the PTSB staff has found that:

• The driver of the bus was inattentive to his driving.

• The driver was traveling at a speed in excess of the legal limit and not driving defensively for adverse weather conditions.

• The driver had a maximum of four hours sleep prior to the return trip.

• The pavement was wet from rain, and at the time of the accident it was lightly raining.

• Eleven of fourteen windows safety glass completely shattered from the frames. At least six occupants were ejected through the windows during the roll over.

• The separation of the luggage racks may have increased occupant injury through contact, but may also have restrained some occupants from ejection through the right side windows.

• The bus company failed to provide sufficient retraining after the driver developed an apparent accident pattern.

• The bus company's employee accident record keeping system needs improvement.

• The bus company failed to insure accurate information was collected in the bus driver's file.

• One previous employer of the driver misrepresented the driver's experience, another failed to respond to the bus company.

• The bus company's safety committee needs improvement in their review of previous accidents by drivers and follow-up recommendations for retraining for at-fault incidences.

• The driver was certified as a school bus driver through his previous job, not through International Bus, which allowed him to legally drive a chartered bus for a school trip.

• There is very little test information available regarding crash worthiness of buses in roll over type accidents. There also is a lack of testing regarding advanced bus passenger restraint systems.

• The mechanical condition of the bus did not contribute to the accident.

Probable Cause

    The PTSB staff finds the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the driver to maintain control of the bus.
    Contributing to the loss of control was the driver's lack of attention, his excessive travel speed for conditions and the lack of professional retraining by his employer.

Recommendations

The Public Transportation Safety Board staff makes the following recommendations:

To International Bus Services:

2061-1 Evaluate the driver's ability concerning defensive driving skills, especially concerning control of the right side area of the bus, adverse weather, speed control, usage of radar detectors and applicable State and Federal law and take appropriate action.

2061-2 Revise the current accident evaluation process for bus drivers to include all previous accidents and an analysis for patterns and trends.

2061-3 Revise the current retraining program criteria to include specialized training in areas that are identified as patterns or trends by safety staff.

2061-4 Revise current data collection and filing procedures to insure that all pertinent safety data, including accident evaluations, are part of the drivers' files and readily accessible.

2061-5 Improve quality control of information obtained in annual driving reviews and perform such review to identify drivers who indicate problem areas and take corrective action.

2061-6 Insure that all drivers are advised of the importance of sufficient rest periods, prohibited use of radar detectors, and dangers of driving in inclement weather conditions.

To NYS Department of Motor Vehicles:

2061-7 Consider the following revisions to Article 19-A which may assist bus carriers to maintain high quality commercial driver standards:

1) Require that all commercial drivers be fully 19-A certified, including written and road test completion prior to their driving in revenue service.

2) Require documentation and a review of all accidents in which a commercial driver is involved as part of the 19-A certification and recertification processes.

3) Develop a statewide procedure for determining when an accident is chargeable to commercial drivers.

4) Require that previous employers supply prompt and objective information that rate the driving ability of a person applying for a bus driver position.

5) Allow motor carriers access to the complete accident and conviction history on abstracts of drivers applying for bus driving positions.

6) Require an official of every carrier to sign a statement that they have reviewed the commercial driver's abstract, list of convictions and accidents and are confident that the driver has a safe record.

7) Consider the adoption of a mandatory statewide defensive driver training and re-training program for commercial drivers and require bus carriers to provide such training annually.

To US DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

2061-8 Review the feasibility of performing crash tests on buses for crash worthiness, including structural integrity, passenger survivability, and passenger seat restraint systems for rollover type crash configurations.