Posted on 05/18/2018 7:56:55 AM PDT by sevinufnine
Authorities are investigating the possibility that the school bus involved in Thursday's fatal crash was making an illegal U-turn when it was hit a dump truck on I-80. Investigators told NBC 4 that video footage from a Department of Transportation camera shows the bus cutting across lanes of traffic to attempt an illegal through a U-turn area for emergency vehicles. The video reportedly shows the dump truck slamming into the bus as it attempts to get onto I-80 eastbound. Officials have not yet spoken to the driver of the bus, who underwent surgery following the crash, NBC 4 says.
(Excerpt) Read more at patch.com ...
“In New Jersey the left lane is for passing only. You could never tell just from observing though.”
Actually, you can. There are no skid marks before the point of impact in the left lane. The back tires of the bus hadn’t even left the median/NO U TURN area when it was struck. This is evident from the dirt pulled onto the roadway when the chassis detatched from the frame and threw it off into the median. The impact would have thrown the load to the right and that’s where there’s dirt in the road on the middle lane.
If you look at my link in Post #20, this confirms that I definitely have the right location. The “split guiderail” arrangement you see in the highway median on the right side of the photo is where the guiderail divides for the center abutment of the International Drive overpass.
You know, I cannot imagine the horror in the hearts and minds of the witness and those civilians who initially stopped and tried to help....
I’m sure you’re correct. I’ve been to NJ twice in the past few years for business. Living in south-west Virginia traffice is pretty suttle. It was TERRIFIYING on those highways. Everyone, and I mean everyone driving 80MPH unless in the “slow” left lane going about 70MPH. I found the slowest big trucks I could and just drove behind them...and prayed :<( Worst place to drive I’ve ever been, and I grew up in Tampa, FL. which can’t compare.
OOPS!! I mean slow RIGHT lane....geez. Sorry.
Judging from the length of that bus, it could have been obstructing TWO lanes of westbound I-80 when it was struck by the dump truck.
I remember a case here in England where authorities employed an eastern european to drive school buses. One very young school girl told her mom, “Our new bus driver is funny, he drives on the wrong side of the road.” (Europe drives on the other side to the UK.) The mother thought her daughter’s comment was just silly talk and didn’t take it seriously. A week later the driver crashed the bus, killing some other child.
No. Thats the hill in Parsippany which is the merge of 80/280/287. This is about 20 miles west of that in Mt Olive right past the Trade Zone which is Exit 25. Unfortunately this happened in my town. The bus clearly missed the exit as the accident happened just west of 25. Probably the driver was making a U-Turn because the next exit is 6 miles west, Exit 19 Allamuchy which would add 15 minutes round trip to just get to the correct exit. As this is a somewhat rural stretch especially compared to Bergen County, its not unrealistic to think the driver panicked and didnt know what to do once they missed th it sit. Just a terrible tragedy.
I’ve driven to Parsippany and Morristown. Equally terrifying.
Now I know why the chassis was ripped from under the bus.
A perfect mix for disaster. Many school bus drivers are idiots and many tri axle dump truck drivers are psychos.
I just watched some helicopter footage, and you can see the weird track the tires made through the dirt, as well as the fact that the FRAME of the bus is severely bent across the rear axle at about a 30 degree angle.
You should watch that video, it’s linked in this thread .
Can you tell whether the truck hit the bus from the side, the front, or the rear ?
How the heck could the drivers of vehicles that size, one bright yellow, not see each other?!
And that is the first pic of the dump truck that I have seen....
Check out @Insightreaderrs Tweet: https://twitter.com/Insightreaderr/status/997522225304498177?s=09
Here’s another pic of the dump truck. Looks like it was fully loaded with dirt. Between the weight of the truck and the load....wow.
Send me a link to that.
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