National Transportation Safety Board
Highway Accident Report

PB82-916202
NTSB-HAR-82-2
Report date: April 26, 1982

Herman Duvall tractor-pole semitrailer and S.L.& B Academy, Inc., school bus collision on U.S. Route 45, near Waynesboro, Mississippi October 12, 1981.

   About 2:40 p.m., c.d.t., on October 12, 1981, a truck tractor-pole semitrailer, laden with sixteen 75- to 80-foot pine logs was southbound on U.S. Route 45, about 1 mile south of Waynesboro, Mississippi. A school bus occupied by the driver and 49 students was also southbound following behind the truck. As the truck approached the Industrial Park Road, it moved into a right turn lane, decelerated, and initiated a 125 degree right turn. The overlength logs swung leftward across the southbound through-traffic lane and into the path of the overtaking school bus. The school bus struck the swinging logs, traveled forward to the right, struck the extreme front end of an eastbound automobile, which was stopped on Industrial Park Road at the intersection, and then struck and overrode a utility pole in the southwest quadrant of the intersection. Three bus passengers were killed, and 18 bus passengers and the driver were injured.
   The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the log truck driver's failure to ascertain that the area near the rear of his truck was clear before turning and the bus driver's incomplete attention to the driving task. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the bus driver's failure to recognize the potential danger from the overhanging swinging logs on the turning logging truck. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the penetration of logs into the passenger area of the school bus.

PROBABLE CAUSE

   The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the log truck driver's failure to ascertain that the area near the rear of his truck was clear before turning and the busdriver's incomplete attention to the driving task. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the busdriver's failure to recognize the potential danger from the overhanging swinging logs on the turning logging truck. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the penetration of logs into the passenger area of the school bus.

RECOMMENDATIONS

--the Mississippi Department of Highways

Install appropriate advance warning signs to alert motorists of the potential hazard from turning trucks loaded with logs or other objects with extensive rear overhang at the intersection of U.S. Route 45 and Industrial Park Road and at all other intersections within the State of Mississippi where a similar hazards may exist. (Class II, Priority Action)(H-82-10)

--the Governor of the State of Mississippi

Introduce and support legislation to require that the driver of any motor vehicle with a seating capacity of more than 16 passengers, whether so employed or acting voluntarily, shall possess, in addition to a properly classified State drivers license,a certificate not more than 2 years old authenticating such driver's successful completion of a bus driver training course which conforms to Highway Safety Programs Standard No. 17, Pupil Transportation Safety. (Class II, Priority Action)(H-82-11)

Take steps to assure that reference to the potential hazard from trucks hauling forest products or other objects with extensive rear overhang, particularly the hazard from the swinging overhang during a turning maneuver, is included as part of the curriculum for all school bus driver training programs and driver's education programs throughout the State of Mississippi. (Class II, Priority Action)(H-82-12)

--the Governors of the States of Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas.

Conduct a study within each State to determine whether trucks hauling logs or other objects with extensive rear overhang represent a significant safety hazard to the motoring public. If the study determines that extensive rear overhang on trucks hauling logs or other objects with extensive rear overhang is a significant safety hazard, take appropriate remedial action. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-82-13)