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"Lessons Learned" is a series of drop-in articles prepared by the NTSB for use 
in publications of other organizations.  An index of articles is available at
http://www.ntsb.gov/events/journalist/lessons/lessons.htm
09/2005
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Lessons Learned from Accident Investigations

Motorcoach Occupant Protection Systems Help Save Lives, Reduce Injuries

A motorcoach crash on a rain-soaked interstate highway in Texas that claimed seven 
lives has prompted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to again stress to highway 
officials and motorcoach operators the importance of keeping passengers within their seating 
compartments during collisions to prevent serious injuries and deaths.

The need for better occupant protection systems was reinforced when the NTSB recently 
released a final report on an accident in Hewitt, Texas. A motorcoach, traveling on Interstate 35, 
ran off the road, crossed the median and collided with a van traveling in the oncoming lane. 
Heavy rain, fog, and haze in the area had reduced visibility at the time of the accident.

More than five years ago, the NTSB urged the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) to develop motorcoach passenger protection standards to lessen the 
impact of front, side and rear impact collisions and rollovers.  Those standards must be followed 
by requirements that newly manufactured motorcoaches have crash protection standards that 
keep passengers within the seating compartment during crashes, the NTSB emphasized. NHTSA 
has told the NTSB it is continuing its research.

"We are saddened and frustrated when the NTSB investigates accidents only to find that 
people have been severely injured or died because our recommendations had not been 
implemented," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker.  "This Texas accident is another 
tragic example."  

In the Hewitt accident, as the motorcoach driver approached the crest of a hill, he noticed 
that traffic was stopping for an accident up ahead.  The driver began to brake and move from the 
right lane to the left lane to avoid the stopped cars, but seeing another car moving into the left 
lane at the same time, the driver was forced to brake hard. The rear of the bus skidded and the 
driver lost control. Five motorcoach passengers, the van driver and one van passenger were 
killed in the accident.  Eight motorcoach passengers and one van passenger were seriously 
injured.

NTSB investigators concluded that motorcoach passengers likely sustained their injuries 
from being thrown into other passenger seats, worn headrests, and into windows when the 
motorcoach crossed the highway median, continued into the opposite lanes, and rolled over.  
Passengers found under the motorcoach had been thrown against windows that shattered and 
broke; the passengers were then ejected when the motorcoach overturned.

The NTSB also concluded that survivable space still remained within the passenger 
compartment after the accident.  Had passengers been confined in their seating areas, their 
exposure to injury-causing impacts and ejection would have been reduced, and they may not 
have sustained such serious, or fatal, injuries due to blunt force trauma, the report said.

In addition, the report said, headrests on the aisle seats, which no longer had interior 
padding, created another possible injury-causing mechanism inside the motorcoach for 
passengers who were not ejected. 

Numerous other safety issues were raised by the Hewitt accident, including sight distance 
and speed as they relate to roadway design, the need to better identify areas with a high risk of 
wet weather accidents and implement roadway improvements, road design and speed limits, tire 
tread depths and roadway friction requirements, and motor carrier oversight.

For a complete copy of the accident report, visit the NTSB Web site at www.ntsb.gov.