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Title: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: JayMac on September 12, 2010, 15:18:02 From the Daily Express (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11276452):
Quote Four passengers were killed and others critically injured when a double-decker bus travelling off its usual route slammed into a low railway bridge in pre-dawn darkness. The Megabus was carrying 27 people, including the driver, when it rammed the bridge on the Onondaga Lake Parkway in Salina, a suburb of Syracuse in central New York. The bus lay on its side after the crash. Twenty-four people were taken to hospitals, most suffering from minor injuries, officials said. A handful remained in hospital on Saturday afternoon. The bus was too tall to make it under the low-hanging span, said Larry Ives, supervisor of dispatch operations for the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department. It struck the bridge between two large signs warning that the clearance was 10 feet 9 inches, photographs from WSYR-TV showed. The top level of the bus was crushed and partially peeled back in the front. The driver of the bus had head injuries but was speaking to investigators, Onondaga County sheriff's deputy Herb Wiggins said. The dead included three men and a woman in her teens or early 20s, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said, adding that there was no indication the driver had been drinking or using drugs. The bus left Philadelphia on Friday and was headed for Toronto with stops in Syracuse and Buffalo, said Don Carmichael, a senior vice president at Coach USA, which operates Megabus. Normally, the bus enters Syracuse on Interstate 81 and heads straight for a depot for a 30 minute rest stop, Mr Carmichael said, but on this night, the driver left his usual route and was on a road that might have been unfamiliar. "We don't know why," he said. Asked if the driver might have been lost, Mr Carmichael said, "He had driven the route before." Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: brompton rail on September 12, 2010, 18:28:15 Terrible crash. Similar "bridge bashes" here seem to avoid so many deaths, perhaps because most are urban with lowish speeds.
For what it is worth, Coach USA is a Stagecoach company. Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: caliwag on September 12, 2010, 19:16:31 Surely there must be some simlpe devise that fits to a double decker to warn the driver of impending disaster. Whether it's GP or just a simple devise on board! I do not understand why this is still happening. Thick drivers are one thing, but surely technology is readily available!!
Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: Chris from Nailsea on September 12, 2010, 19:21:12 Good point, caliwag!
If it is possible for 'satnav' equipment to alert road users to radar / camera speed traps, surely it can also be used to alert them to low bridges - which tend to be rather more permanent than such speed traps, for example?? Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: Ollie on September 12, 2010, 19:58:14 Something similar to parking sensors perhaps? Of course more powerful so to tell if something further head is going to be in the way..
Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: paul7575 on September 12, 2010, 21:43:14 Apparently the problem is that there is a premium charged for the low bridge data and associated warnings. Most HGV drivers apparently rely on the cheaper GPS systems aimed at car drivers...
Paul Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: inspector_blakey on September 15, 2010, 15:12:09 Reported on the radio and in the press this morning that the accident occurred after the driver missed his exit on the freeway then tried to double back to where he was supposed to be using his personal sat-nav. Which, as mentioned above, probably didn't include any warnings about low bridges.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Driver in fatal bus crash put on unpaid leave (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100915_Driver_in_fatal_bus_crash_put_on_unpaid_leave.html). As an aside, Megabus is under the umbrella of Coach USA, a US Stagecoach subsidiary, so I wonder if we can expect histrionics in the next unmissable installment of the Hogrider (http://www.shrug.info) - they've got form, after all. Click here (http://www.shrug.info/Hogrider127/HOGRIDER%20127%20PART%202.html) and scroll down to the second item from the bottom, STAGECOACH MEGABUS OBSCENITY, if you can face it... Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: caliwag on September 15, 2010, 21:44:36 I suppose thanks for that...unbelievable, how callous is that?
Surely Stagecoach have some sort of procedure in place for such incidents...thicko driver I guess. Hope any inquiry tightens up the rules...jeez Title: Re: Four die in US double-deck bus crash (Daily Express 11/09/2010) Post by: JayMac on September 15, 2010, 21:47:35 That's a bit strong caliwag. You don't have to be a thicko to make a mistake.
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