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US: Fatigued driver caused deadly NY bus crash
Source: Agencies |
June 6, 2012, Wednesday
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A tour bus that crashed last year while returning to Manhattan's Chinatown from a casino, claiming 15 lives, was probably caused by a driver suffering from too little sleep and a bus company that provided too little safety oversight, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday.
The five-member board, in a unanimous vote, said the driver, Ophadell Williams, had almost no sleep in the three days leading up to the March 12, 2011, accident except for naps he took on the bus while passengers were inside a Connecticut casino gambling.
The bus was traveling at speeds up to 78 miles per hour (125 kph) in a 50 mph (80 kph) zone of Interstate 95 while returning to New York until seconds before it ran off the road, clattered along a highway guard rail, toppled over and crashed into the support pole for a highway sign. The pole knifed through the bus front to back along the window line, peeling the roof off all the way to the back tires. Besides those killed, 17 other passengers were injured, some severely.
There was no sign that Williams attempted to brake or steer the bus back onto the highway after striking the guard rail, another indication his performance was degraded by fatigue, investigators told the board. They stopped short of saying Williams had fallen asleep.
Williams has pleaded not guilty in New York to charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Williams' attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"For years, speed has been a factor in accidents. And, we've seen in investigation after investigation, the tragic results of the degraded performance from fatigue. Together, fatigue and speed are an especially lethal combination," NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. She noted that driver fatigue was a factor in seven of the last 19 motor coach accidents the board has investigated.
The five-member board, in a unanimous vote, said the driver, Ophadell Williams, had almost no sleep in the three days leading up to the March 12, 2011, accident except for naps he took on the bus while passengers were inside a Connecticut casino gambling.
The bus was traveling at speeds up to 78 miles per hour (125 kph) in a 50 mph (80 kph) zone of Interstate 95 while returning to New York until seconds before it ran off the road, clattered along a highway guard rail, toppled over and crashed into the support pole for a highway sign. The pole knifed through the bus front to back along the window line, peeling the roof off all the way to the back tires. Besides those killed, 17 other passengers were injured, some severely.
There was no sign that Williams attempted to brake or steer the bus back onto the highway after striking the guard rail, another indication his performance was degraded by fatigue, investigators told the board. They stopped short of saying Williams had fallen asleep.
Williams has pleaded not guilty in New York to charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Williams' attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"For years, speed has been a factor in accidents. And, we've seen in investigation after investigation, the tragic results of the degraded performance from fatigue. Together, fatigue and speed are an especially lethal combination," NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. She noted that driver fatigue was a factor in seven of the last 19 motor coach accidents the board has investigated.
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