This Editorial appears in the April 21 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today. We have watched coverage of the April 10 deadly crash involving a truck and bus with a great deal of sadness. The personal stories of the young students killed have been nothing short of heartbreaking.
The National Transportation Safety Board has a team still investigating all aspects of the accident. It is likely to be on the scene for several weeks, and a full report of what the agency believes happened will take far longer.
Much of the initial focus of the investigation has been on FedEx Corp., as its truck was involved and was a prominent feature of the widely distributed fiery images of the accident in Orland, Calif.
Its Freight unit, with 18,820 drivers and 14,703 vehicles, has a “satisfactory” rating, the highest possible, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website.
The company’s drivers traveled almost 1 billion miles in the past two years with 730 crashes, including 23 involving a fatality. FMCSA does not provide information as to who was at fault in any of these incidents, meaning the company’s safety figures are even stronger.
The truck driver had relieved another driver during a stop not long before the crash, so any hours-of-service violations are extremely unlikely. In addition, the driver is believed to have had a clean record.
It appears as well that Silverado Stages, the company that owns the charter bus involved in the crash, also has a strong safety record.
However, NTSB is examining whether fire safety or other measures it previously recommended for motor coaches could have allowed more of the occupants to escape. Dozens of the 44 students on the bus escaped through windows. Five students and three adult chaperones died, along with the drivers.
After a deadly 2005 bus crash, NTSB called for safety standards that could make buses less vulnerable to fire, including improved protection of fuel tanks. More recently, NTSB said buses should have sophisticated suppression systems to control fires, much as high-rise buildings have sprinkler systems.
The agency is also reviewing the state’s decision not to put a median barrier on the highway. Barriers are required to help prevent head-on collisions when medians are less than 50 feet wide — this one was about 60 feet.
FedEx and Silverado Stages each deserve credit for publicly stating their willingness to fully cooperate in the investigation.
As NTSB moves forward, we are hopeful the investigation will yield data to save lives in the future.
