HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT
Adopted: September 20, 1979
CROSS MEDIAN, MULTIPLE-VEHICLE COLLISION AND FIRE
STATE ROUTE 2
NEAR CLEVELAND, OHIO
MAY 6, 1979 
NTSB Number: HAR-79/07
NTIS Number: PB-300914/AS 
SYNOPSIS
About 3:05 a.m., May 6, 1979, a 1976 Dodge van eastbound on State Route 2, near E. 305th Street, Willowick, Ohio, crossed the median and collided with a westbound 1971 Ford LTD. The van then proceeded a short distance and collided with a westbound 1976 Oldsmobile. In this collision, gasoline spilled from a ruptured fuel tank and the van and the Oldsmobile were engulfed in flames. Five of the six occupants in the Ford were killed instantly; the sixth occupant died on May 13, 1979. The van driver was ejected from his vehicle and injured seriously; the two occupants of the Oldsmobile escaped with minor injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the loss of control by the driver of the van for unknown reasons. Contributing to the fatal injuries of the occupants of the Ford was their failure to wear the available occupant restraints.

RECOMMENDATIONS

As a result of its Investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board made the following recommendations:

to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

"Expedite the development of a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard on motor vehicle fuel systems to include a performance standard for nonmetallic fuel tanks. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-41)

"Include a definition of fuel system in the contemplated revision of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301-75, Fuel System Integrity. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-42)

"Include performance requirements for each of the components of the fuel system, in the contemplated revision of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301-75. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-43)

"Include requirements for rearend impact test with both vehicles in a braking attitude, in the contemplated revision of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301-75, Fuel System Integrity. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-44)

"Include the requirement for rearend collision tests at angles from straight rearend to 90 degrees in the contemplated revision of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301-75, Fuel System Integrity. (Class 11, Priority Action) (H-79-45)”

to the State of Ohio:

“Install a median barrier in the 36-foot median segment of State Route 2 within Wickliffe, Willowick, and Eastlake. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-46)

"Conduct an engineering study of the 60-foot median segment of Route 2 through Willoughby and install median barriers in those locations where there is an adverse history of across-the-median accidents which would warrant such installations. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-47)”