National Transportation Safety Board
Highway Accident Report

PB85-916207
NTSB\HAR-85/06
Report adopted: December 10, 1985

Collision of Tuba City School District school bus and Bell Creek, Inc., tractor-semitrailer on US 160 near Tuba City, Arizona April 29, 1985

SYNOPSIS

   About 3:14 p.m mountain standard time on April 29, 1985 a Bell Creek, Inc. tractor-semitrailer transporting 99 head of cattle and traveling about 59 mph struck the rear of a 1977 Tuba City Unified School District school bus on eastbound U.S. 160 about 16 miles north of Tuba City, Arizona. The school bus was stopped with its warning lights flashing in the eastbound lane of the two-lane highway to discharge passengers. The weather was clear, the pavement was dry, and there were no visibility obstructions for about 1.4 miles to the rear of the school bus. Of the 32 school bus passengers (ages 5 to 21 years), 2 were fatally injured, 4 sustained serious injuries, 4 received moderate injuries, 18 sustained minor injuries, and 4 were not injured. The truckdriver and the school bus driver received minor injuries.
   The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the truck driver's chronic fatigue, which adversely affected his ability to avoid a collision with the stationary school bus; his chronic fatigue developed from a loss of sleep due to a combination of excessive duty time and prolonged irregular duty pattern. Contributing to the accident was the failure of Bell Creek, Inc. to properly monitor the truck driver's activities to prevent excessive hours of service.

PROBABLE CAUSE

   The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the truck driver's chronic fatigue, which adversely affected his ability to avoid the collision with the stationary school bus; his chronic fatigue developed from a loss of sleep due to a combination of excessive duty time and a prolonged irregular duty pattern. Contributing to the accident was the failure of Bell Creek, Inc. to properly monitor the truck driver's activities to prevent excessive hours of service.

RECOMMENDATIONS

As a result of its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board made the following recommendation:

--to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

Revise Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 221, School Bus Body Joint Strength, to require that joints of interior body maintenance access panels within a defined occupant contactable zone meet the joint strength performance requirement of other body panel joints. (Class II, Priority Action) ( H-85-51)

--to the Federal Highway Administration:

Institute a nationwide policy which requires a re-audit of a motor carrier or hazardous materials shipper within 1 year after the completion of an enforcement action. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-85-)