At Least 9 Dead as Bus, Truck Crash in California

ORLAND, Calif. (AP) — The long bus ride north from Los Angeles for a group of high school students who planned to visit Humboldt State University had been fun: The hours whizzed by as they watched movies, chatted up new friends, and jammed to hip-hop on the radio.

Steven Clavijo, 18, a senior at West Ranch High in Santa Clarita, was looking forward to his visit to Humboldt, where he planned to enroll. Just as Clavijo was trying to catch a nap Thursday afternoon, he said he felt the big vehicle begin to shake from left to right and then he heard a loud boom.

"We knew we were in major trouble," he said.

At Least 9 Dead as Bus, Truck Crash in California

The crash happened yesterday a little after 5:30 p.m. on the Interstate 5 near Orland.

A tour bus carrying more than 40 seniors from West Ranch High School in Santa Clarita was struck by a FedEx semi that crossed the grassy median, and plowed into them. The group were on their way to check out Humboldt State University.

Forty students on board escaped through a window before it exploded and burst into flames.

A first responder who helped set up a triage at the scene said 36 or 37 people received injuries ranging from minor to severe burns, broken legs and noses, and head lacerations.

A video and more pictures are available in the full article.

This is heart-breaking news. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who lost their child, or family member in this terrible tragedy.

This is a horrible tragedy. I am a truckdriver. This is the third fatality accident involving a FedEx tractor-trailer in less than 2 weeks.

Of those three, two of them were caused by the drivers crossing the median. These guys drive way too fast for the road conditions, and have no regard for posted speed limits and the safety of others on the road.

Something MUST be done about FedEx and their blatant disregard for safety.

no offense but why are you posting this? 9 is not that large a death toll in a bus accident, nor is a bus accident as sad as it is all that uncommon? heck i hear about a new bus crash every couple of days it seems. was there something especially "interesting about this crash?

reply to post by generik


Heck yeah, something was important about this, you jerk!! Some high school seniors lost their lives due to a stupid truck driver crashing into them!

Even one life is a tragedy to lose at that young age!
I know it happens everyday, but as the member above said, FedEx needs to do something about their drivers speeding, and reckless driving.

reply to post by sled735


Now the headline says the number that were killed was 10.

Its always tragic when young people have to die so soon.I wonder if the fed-ex driver was reckless or if his superiors push them to drive at dangerous speeds.

The more time you spend on the road, the more chance of getting in an accident. Was that trip really necessary?

reply to post by sled735


It's not necessarily a "stupid truck driver". Reports say that he may have been trying to avoid a car that was involved too.

People drive like idiots around us, and then immediately blame us when something like this happens.

FedEx does put a lot of pressure on their drivers, and something does need to be done, but instead of instantly crucifying the truck driver, how about waiting for details to come out. He died in this accident too, so let's cut him a little slack until we know what happened.

All I can say is RIP to these kids who had a whole life ahead of them.

As far as the trucker. I have a few in my family, and they are the most alert and careful drivers that I know. Perhaps we wait for the whole story before we crucify the driver. After all, he is the one living with these deaths for thr rest of his life, not us.

reply to post by magnum1188


Both drivers were killed in the crash, but his family will be dealing with this for a long time.

This story is heartbreaking. I can relate to the driver as someone very close to me drives for a living. Although I will say the FedEx drivers in my area go entirely too fast. One guy almost hit me & my children @ full speed, years ago.

I can only think of the beginning of the movie, Castaway w/Tom Hanks. Everyone is in a rush.

I wonder what FedEx's overall safety is.

sled735
reply to post by generik

 

Heck yeah, something was important about this, you jerk!! Some high school seniors lost their lives due to a stupid truck driver crashing into them!

Even one life is a tragedy to lose at that young age!
I know it happens everyday, but as the member above said, FedEx needs to do something about their drivers speeding, and reckless driving.

wow personal attacks and name calling for asking a legitimate question? i think you need to see someone about possible rage issues, possibly need to stop taking certain meds. if you fly of the handle at something so trivial i would hate to see your reaction to a real problem.

i asked because i was wondering why such a (in the scheme of things) trivial even was being reported here. if possibly you were holding something back that would make this more relevant for discussion, perhaps something about the speed of which the fire happened, fires not being all that common a result of an accident. very sadly bus accidents are not a rare occurrence many people die because of them, the age of those that died is irrelevant, babies die, children die, teenagers die, adults die, the age of those killed matters not, it's a tragedy for their families no matter what the ages. two drivers and seven or eight teenagers killed while as i say is sad, it is not a huge number, and could have been much worse. i mean so far THIS YEAR alone which has just had over 3 months, where i at there have already been 217 bus accidents. and many people have died as a result of them. not to mention 530 accidents involving trucks, in which again innocent lives were also lost. keep in mind that some of these accidents are the fault of the bus and truck drivers, and maintenance issues, yet some of them are caused by people driving cars and motorcycles, and their maintenance issues, and some even people using rice machines, cows, bulls, and carabaos as if they were cars.

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly 3000 road accidents have been recorded from January to February this year, a record higher than same period last year, Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday. Statistics of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) of the PNP said 217 accidents involving buses and 530 involving trucks has been recorded since January 2014. Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net... Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

trucks involved in accidents that kill people is nothing new either, especially in the United States and Canada. it is an epidemic that has been going on well over 20 years. it's not just fed ex, who just happened to be involved in this case. and yet at the same time i rather suspect that the percentage of bad truck drivers matched against car drivers, there would be a higher percentage of car drivers causing accidents. who knows, at this point this accident could very easily have been actually caused by a bad car driver cutting of the truck for example. we don't know and we may never know due to both the truck driver and bus driver being dead. the last truck i saw airborne was caused by a car cutting him off and being without a load the truck's braking caused it to leave the ground and spin in the air. so it is not even fair to lay the blame on the truck driver until an investigation is completed. so your rant about " FedEx needs to do something about their drivers speeding, and reckless driving". and "high school seniors lost their lives due to a stupid truck driver crashing into them". are actually unfair accusations at this time. there is just no evidence in the story to even suggest such an accusation. oh i would say ALL trucking firms not just FedEx, need to do something about the reckless driving from their drivers. especially when if you know anything about the industry you know many of those bad drivers are CAUSED by companies time policies and holding drivers to too tight scheduling, especially companies like package delivery firms that have time guarantees for their services. trust me i know all about bad "truckers" since i was in a bad accident that has left me in pain for years that was caused by one of these bad truckers, as well as being friends with both truckers and even bus drivers. yet even i can see that it is not just trucks, but bad car drivers that cause many of these accidents, but how to deal with them? unlike a truck driver there is no company directly involved either adding to the problem, or being able to penalize the bad driver.

sled735
reply to post by generik

 

Heck yeah, something was important about this, you jerk!! Some high school seniors lost their lives due to a stupid truck driver crashing into them!

Even one life is a tragedy to lose at that young age!
I know it happens everyday, but as the member above said, FedEx needs to do something about their drivers speeding, and reckless driving.

You all are right. I shouldn't have called him a "stupid truck driver". I wasn't there, so I don't know how the accident happened.
My apologies. I certainly didn't mean to direct that statement to ALL truck drivers, but they do seem to think they own the road where I live.

reply to post by sled735

but they do seem to think they own the road where I live.

Or maybe you should consider a minor tweak in your perception
of truck drivers. It may only seem that way to you, because not
only are truckers at work behind the wheel and you aren't. But
their vehicle, can grind yours up like card board. So you're bound
to get into situations with them on the road, whereby they may
count on at least a little respect from the public. That means you.
Truckers are professional drivers and are good at what they do.
If you give it some for thought you can save yourself some stress
if not more. And make things easier for a working man.

I'm not a trucker but would play one on TV.

Here is an update on the crash. There is a video that shows a lot on the source page.
news.yahoo.com...

ORLAND, Calif. (AP) — It was a busload of opportunity: young, low-income, motivated students, destined to become the first in their families to go to college, journeying from the concrete sprawl of Los Angeles to a remote redwood campus 650 miles north.

Those dreams shattered for some Thursday in an explosive freeway collision that left 10 dead — students, chaperones and both drivers — and dozens hospitalized.

Desperate families awaited word about loved ones Friday, while investigators tried to figure out why a southbound FedEx big rig swerved across the grassy divide of California's key artery before sideswiping a car and slamming into the tour bus, which burst into a furious blaze.

The Serrato family, whose identical twin 17-year-old daughters set off on the adventure on separate buses Thursday, had a panicked, sleepless night. Marisol made it to their destination, Humboldt State University, but the family had no word on Marisa, who had been aboard the now-gutted bus, for nearly 24 hours.

They received the official word Friday evening when dental records confirmed Marisa was among the dead.

"Marisol is devastated," the girls' 23-year-old brother Miguel Serrato said.

Humboldt alumni Michael Myvett, 29, and his fiancee, Mattison Haywood, who were chaperoning, also were killed. Myvett was a therapist at an autism treatment center.

View galleryHigh school students, Jazmine Villalobos, 14, left, …
High school students, Jazmine Villalobos, 14, left, and Michelle Lopez, 14, react after learning the …
"He just died," his grandmother Debra Loyd said, her voice breaking with emotion in the early afternoon Friday. "They have already confirmed it."

Myvett's manager Kyle Farris said he was "extraordinary," and that he connected with their children "on a level few others could, and he contributed to their wellbeing in such a positive and profound way."

"He will be greatly missed," Farris said.

A Facebook photo shows Haywood flashing a shining diamond engagement ring on her finger and kissing Myvett in December near the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The bus was among three Humboldt had chartered as part of its two-day Preview Plus program to bring prospective students to tour the Arcata campus, according to university officials. Before launching the event Friday, university Vice President Peg Blake's voice broke as she asked a crowded theater for a moment of silence in honor of everyone affected by the accident.

The CHP and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, but warned it could take months to conclude what happened.

View galleryMap locates Orland, Calif., where three vehicles crashed …
Map locates Orland, Calif., where three vehicles crashed and killed at least nine; 6c x 2 inches; 29 …
Mark Rosekind, an NTSB member, said Friday that the agency would be gathering information over the next one to two weeks. He said it will review whether the stretch of California freeway where the bus was struck should have had a barrier along the median to prevent head-on collisions.

In addition, Rosekind said it will determine whether a fire suppression system recommended but not mandated for buses would have made a difference in the crash.

Most survivors were injured, some with critical burns or broken limbs. Those who made it out said they scrambled through a kicked-out window. One man, apparently an admissions counselor, was in flames and later died. Those who could sprinted, others staggered, in a desperate dash to the opposite side of Interstate 5 before the vehicle exploded.

"We knew we were in major trouble," said Steven Clavijo, a high school senior from Santa Clarita, who was trying to nap when he felt the bus shake before a loud boom.

After he escaped, two more explosions followed. Clavijo and other survivors watched helplessly, knowing their peers were trapped in the inferno.

Explosions of orange flames engulfed both vehicles, and clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky until firefighters doused the fire, leaving behind scorched black hulks of metal. Bodies were draped in blankets inside the burned-out bus.

reply to post by sled735


Man, that is really messed up. Any way Sled, I can't speak for everyone,
but I'm sure you meant no harm. Emotions run high when horrific accidents
occur. Understandable.

i have sound something of interest on the accident. when i first read the story i had noted, as i said the strangeness of the fire especially as fast as it occurred. well looking at a news service from here it would seem there is a strong possibility of the FedEx truck being on fire BEFORE it jumped the median and hit the bus. this could explain much about the accident. in fact it has me wondering exactly what the cargo was in the truck. it seems the fire was from under the rear end of the cab. the story further states that the truck swerved to avoid another car traveling in it's direction, before (possibly causing?) it jumped the median. now that makes some sense if the truck driver knew his truck was on fire. now if you are in a moving vehicle that is on fire you have a few choices to make. you can keep going and speed up to try to "blow out the flames", and/or hope to find somewhere that could help put out the flames, which it would seem this trucker might have been doing. you can call for the fire department to meet up with you as you race down the road, as a professional truck driver i would think this could have been his plan, i wonder if there was a 911 call or CB call for help. you can stop the vehicle, but the flames can quickly spread as you are slowing down, and possibly blocking escape. or you can jump out and let the vehicle go on (risk of major injury). what ever the case it would seem likely that he knew he was on fire and was following the first or second option. which is one reason i wonder what his cargo was, since it would seem that once the crash occurred that the fire spread VERY QUICKLY and at least one explosion it sounds like from the original story.

When the FedEx truck collided with the charter bus carrying the high school students to a college campus tour in California’s redwood county, the vehicles exploded into towering flames and billowing black smoke. Bodies recovered from the bus were charred beyond recognition. Initial reports by police indicated the truck swerved to avoid a sedan that was traveling in the same direction in this town about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Sacramento, then went across the median. There was no mention of the truck being on fire. But Joe and Bonnie Duran, a Seattle-area couple who were in the car, said, like the bus, they were northbound on Interstate 5 on Thursday afternoon. Bonnie Duran, who was driving, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that flames were coming from the lower rear of the cab of the FedEx truck. “I just looked to the left, and there it was coming through right at me at an angle. I can tell I wasn’t going to outrun him, so I just kind of turned to the right and he hit me,” she said. “It was in flames as it came through the median. … It wasn’t like the whole thing was engulfed. It was coming up wrapping around him.” Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net... Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

now what i find really interesting is the fact that not only was this information not contained in the original story, but the "non comment" about when asked about it. why not? they could always say that it was reported by a witness it may have been on fire. it is not as if the truck being reported as possibly being on fire would hinder an investigation, like reporting information on an investigation with a "suspect" that could warn off a suspect, or affect a trial. so why the closed mouth approach? it really does not make sense to withhold that information at all. was this truck hauling some sort of very flammable or even explosive goods and they are wanting to keep that a secret for some reason? is it even possible that there was an extra hazard involved with the cargo burning that the driver who should have known what he was transporting and risks/safety for it knew about, that affected his reasoning to keep going? after all the truck driver seems to have made the choice to keep driving, when he could have jumped or tried to stop and escape letting the truck burn. it seems the fire was lower rear of the cab so he should have been able to stop or at least slow down and exit the vehicle.

Officer Lacey Heitman, a spokeswoman for California Highway Patrol, said she could not confirm if the truck was on fire before the collision until all evidence was gathered. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the agency is investigating the condition of the truck before the collision, including if it was on fire. FedEx spokeswoman Bonnie Harrison wouldn’t comment on the reports the truck was on fire. Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net... Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

what really makes it more interesting is that it seems the NSTB has made recommendations about buses and fire suppression and evacuation issues back in 2005, yet the government has not fully acted upon them, and put laws into place regaurding them. even though it seems some bus companies have made some changes voluntarily. if this recommendation had of been acted on by the government could more people have survived? yet NINE YEARS after the accident that caused concern NOTHING has really been done about the concern.

After a 2005 bus fire killed 23 nursing home residents escaping Hurricane Rita in Texas, the NTSB called for safety standards that could make buses less vulnerable to fire, including improved protection of fuel tanks. More recently, the NTSB says buses must have sophisticated suppression systems to control fires, much as high-rise buildings have sprinkler systems. “Fire suppression holds the greatest potential for saving lives, reducing costs and minimizing damage,” according to a recent NTSB list of its safety priorities for all modes of transportation. Existing fire standards dating to the 1970s apply to small fire sources such as lit cigarettes, but they do not apply to large fires that can start outside the bus. The NTSB, which investigates accidents and their causes, has no authority to require safety changes it recommends. But a bill passed by Congress in June 2012 directed the Department of Transportation to conduct research and tests on ways to prevent fires or mitigate the effects, among other safety issues. That included evacuating passengers, as well as automatic fire suppression, smoke suppression and improved fire extinguishers. Representatives of the bus industry told Congress that manufacturers were increasingly and voluntarily adding such features. The law suggests the department issue new standards in those areas within three years if the secretary of transportation decides they are “reasonable, practicable and appropriate.” Former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator Joan Claybrook told the Associated Press that the bus industry fought with safety advocates “like cats and dogs” to prevent “hard deadlines” for the new regulations. So far, the government has not proposed any new standards related to passenger evacuation in event of a fire or other fire-related issues, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which lobbied Congress for tougher motor-coach safety standards. Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net... Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

reply to post by generik


When I worked safety, we had a truck that set the drives on fire. The nose of the trailer was engulfed in less than a minute or so. It burned through the trailer quickly and destroyed everything on it.

As for the NTSB, that's nothing new. I've seen a number of recommendations that took years to even get to the recommendation stage, let alone get implemented.

Zaphod58
reply to post by generik

 

When I worked safety, we had a truck that set the drives on fire. The nose of the trailer was engulfed in less than a minute or so. It burned through the trailer quickly and destroyed everything on it.

i know which is why the reported positioning of the reported fire is key. i have a relative who is both a fireman and a trucker. he is the one that told me about speeding up in order to try to extinguish the flames, or in the case of a low fire like this to at least keep it blowing and hopefully low and to get a fire department to meet you or join up with you to put out the flames. once you stop it is all over, even with a car. the firewall on a car just gives under a minute of protection and once stopped the vehicle is destroyed in no time. sometimes before an occupant is even able to get out. he told me if i ever had a fire i should speed up to either knock it down or fan it to keep it from spreading, and try to meet with a fire truck, even to pull into a fire station to add to my chances of survival. or if that was a no go, and/or if the fire was starting to enter the passenger compartment to slow down a bit and bail out

As for the NTSB, that's nothing new. I've seen a number of recommendations that took years to even get to the recommendation stage, let alone get implemented.

that is unsurprising especially since the NTSB can't make laws but have to "suggest it" and wait for it to go through the bureaucracy and all the infighting especially from special interests that cause it to practically slow down to a halt if not stop it being implemented at all.

generik

wow personal attacks and name calling for asking a legitimate question? i think you need to see someone about possible rage issues, possibly need to stop taking certain meds. if you fly of the handle at something so trivial i would hate to see your reaction to a real problem.

I just now saw your post, and it made me laugh.

My apologies, Generik. I took your post the wrong way.
I had just come from reading another thread that upset me to reading about this article, and your questioning about "why was this important" set me off.

Guess you just caught me at the wrong moment. I hardly ever lose my cool on here like that.