1944 — March 20, Sleet, bus slides off Market St. Bridge into Passaic Riv. ~Passaic, NJ–19-20
–9-30 The Bee, Danville VA. “9 to 30 Dead…Bus Skids off Bridge into River.” 3-20-1944, 1[1]
— 20 Abilene Reporter-News, TX. “Bus Crash Kills at Least 28.” 8-5-1952.
— 20 National Safety Council. Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.
— 19 FindACase. “Monaco v. Comfort Bus Line Inc., New Jersey Supreme Court.” 10-4-1946.
— 16 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1945 Britannica Book of the Year. 1945, p. 239.
— 16 Historyorb.com. “Historical Events on 20th March.”
— 13 Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Death Toll in Bus Plunge 13.” 3-21-1944, p. 10.
Narrative Information
Aug 5, 1952: “….On March 20, 1944, a bus plunged off a bridge at Passaic, N. J., killing 20 persons.”[2] (Abilene Reporter-News, TX. “Bus Crash Kills at Least 28.” 8-5-1952.)
FindACase: “Joseph Monaco, Administrator ad Prosequendum of the Estate of Mary Monaco, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Comfort Bus Line, Inc., A Corporation, Defendant, County of Passaic and Country of Bergen, Jointly, severally and in the Alternative, Defendants-Respondents; Abe Stahl, Administrator ad Prosequendum of the Estate of Lillian Stahl, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Comfort Bus Line, Inc., a Corporation, Defendant, County of Passaic, a Body Politic Incorporate of the State of New Jersey, and County of Bergen, a Body Politic Incorporate of the State of New Jersey, Defendants-Respondents.
“On appeal from the Supreme Court.
“For the appellant Joseph Monaco et al., Ward & McGinnis and Louis C. Friedman (Peter J. McGinnis, of counsel).
“For the appellant Abe Stahl et al., Feder & Rinzler (Jack Rinzler, of counsel).
“For the respondent County of Bergen, Winne & Banta (Walter G. Winne, of counsel).
“For the respondent County of Passaic, Charles C. Stalter.
“For John Olczak, administrator ad prosequendum, &c., et al., as amicus curice, John G. Dluhy.
“Joining in the brief as attorneys for other plaintiffs: David T. Wilentz, Manfield G. Amlicke, Cole, Morrill & Nadell, Winthrop Watson, Davies & Davies, John O. McGuire, Joseph Teich, Lee M. Skolkin, August A. Azzolino and Riskin & Riskin.
“Oliphant [134 NJL Page 554]
“The opinion of the court was delivered by OLIPHANT, J. These cases arose as the result of an automobile bus accident which occurred March 20th, 1944, at 8:00 A.M., on the Market Street bridge over the Passaic River in which nineteen persons lost their lives.
“The suits were brought by duly appointed administrators ad prosequendum against the Comfort Bus Line, Inc., the owner of the bus, and the Counties of Bergen and Passaic who had jointly constructed the bridge on which the bus was traveling. The cases, by order of the trial judge and with [134 NJL Page 555] the consent of counsel for all parties, were consolidated for trial. This resulted in directed verdicts in favor of the respondents at the close of the case and of verdicts by the jury of no cause of action in favor of the Comfort Bus Line, Inc., against both plaintiffs. A new trial was granted the plaintiffs as against the bus line. These appeals are taken from the action of the trial court with respect to the suit against the two counties.
“The facts, in brief, disclose the following with respect to the happening of the accident. The plaintiffs’ intestates were passengers for hire on the bus which was proceeding over the bridge at a speed of from five to twenty-five miles per hour when it, without explanation as to cause, suddenly turned at a forty-five degree angle, mounted the curb and went over the pedestrian’s sidewalk, struck a pedestrian on that sidewalk, crashed into the bridge rail and plunged into the river. The wheels of the bus were turning as it left the bridge and it was in second gear when raised from the river. At the time of the accident there was a slight fall of snow on the roadway.
“The bridge, construction of which was begun in 1929 and finished in 1931, was of the Rall bascule type and was about twenty feet above the water. It was composed of three sections, two of which were fixed spans, and a center one that was movable and could be raised like a cellar door. The roadway of the bridge used for vehicular traffic was thirty feet wide and on each side of this roadway, separated therefrom by a wooden curb was a pedestrian sidewalk ten feet wide. On the outer side of each sidewalk was a guard rail. The standard specifications of the American Association of Highway Officials with respect to bridge construction called for a curbing at the side of the roadway nine inches in height whereas the curb on this bridge was between 7 5/8 inches and 8 3/8 inches, and according to those same specifications the guard rail was deficient in strength. The bridge was designed to carry twenty ton trucks which it safely did. The bus involved in the accident weighed 12,600 pounds.
“The complaint in each case charged the counties with negligence in the construction, erecting, rebuilding and repairing of the bridge with respect to the curb between the roadway [134 NJL Page 556] and the pedestrian walk and also the guard rail, and appellants argue as there was testimony adduced that the curb and railing did not meet minimum standard construction requirements a fact question was presented which precluded a direction of a verdict in favor of the counties by the trial court. Each complaint also contained a count charging the counties with the construction and maintenance of a nuisance by reason of the character of the curb and guard rail of the bridge.
“We conclude there was no error on the part of the trial court in directing the verdicts appealed from.
“These causes of action arose solely by virtue of the provisions of R.S. 27:19-10. The trial judge acted properly under the facts in limiting the duty of respondents to that of constructing the bridge in a reasonably safe condition for ordinary public travel and eliminating from the case the question of its maintenance….
“The theory of appellants, carried to its logical conclusion, would charge these respondents with the duty to construct this bridge with a curbing of sufficient height and a railing of sufficient strength to have prevented automobiles from leaving the roadway and the bridge under all circumstances. They were charged with no such duty and the direction of verdicts in their favor was proper. The legislature in enacting the legislation giving a right of action for injury or damage due to the neglect of a county in the construction of a bridge never contemplated the uses to which they are put in these times. If it was the legislative intention that bridges should be constructed in a manner to prevent all injury and damage resulting from their use it should be so declared….” (FindACase. “Monaco v. Comfort Bus Line Inc., New Jersey Supreme Court.” 10-4-1946.)
Newspapers at the Time
March 20: “Passaic, N.J., March 20 – (AP) – A bus plunged from a bridge into the Passaic river during a sleet storm today and seven rescued occupants estimated that nine to 30 other persons were inside the submerged vehicle.
“The estimate of nine came from a boy, with adults putting the figure at 15 to 30.
“Employes of a riverside factory making life rafts for the war effort tossed finished rafts out windows and into the stream to facilitate rescue work, while Nicholas Mulick of Wallington, a fellow worker, dove into the icy water and helped three survivors ashore. Those saved were assisted from an emergency door.
“Port of New York authorities started a derrick barge to the scene in an effort to raise the bus.
“The bus had traveled the length of Passaic and was bound into Wallington and Wood-Ridge, site of a huge airplane engine plant.
“First identified victim of the accident, was a pedestrian knocked from the bridge into the river.
“One of the seven saved was Leroy W. Thomas, general foreman of the United States Rubber company plant, whose employes played major roles in the rescue work.
“Stanley Pavlick of Wallington, related that he heard the crash, looked from a window in the plant and recognized Thomas floating in the river with the aid of a bus seat cushion. Pavlick obtained a long-handled broom and rushed to the edge of the water, where he passed an end of the broom to Thomas and towed him to the bank. When he told Thomas to climb out, however, the foreman said. ‘ I can’t. Both my legs are broken.” Pavlick then jumped in, pushed Thomas out and went to the aid of a woman who was floating on a ladder thrown in by firemen….
“Craig Mellinger, a life raft maker, said he saw ‘at least ten people in the water,’ four of whom were saved with boards tossed to them from the raft department….
“All of those rescued were given first aid treatment at the rubber plant and then taken to hospitals.
“Fire apparatus, rescue squads and police cars from municipalities on both sides of the Passaic thronged the scene.
“The State Public Utility Commission had three inspectors on the scene within an hour, and a fourth a little later. Joseph E. Conlon, commission president, said in a statement, ‘From the first reports we have received, the accident was one of the most serious in the history of the state insofar as bus operation is concerned.’ Conlon said examination of records at the Wallington Office of the Comfort Bus Line, operators of the vehicle, probably would yield an estimate of the number of persons ordinarily carried on the fatal run. ‘However,’ he added, ‘the storm this morning caused particularly heavy riding on all bus lines, including the Comfort operation.’
“The bridge is about 15 feet above water level. The bus skidded on the bridge and ripped down about 30 feet of guard rail before it dropped into the channel, recently deepened for tugboat traffic.
“The six rescued were taken to hospitals in some of the ambulances summoned from a number of hospitals in Passaic and surrounding municipalities.
“The accident occurred about 8 a.m. (Eastern War Time) as the bus was crossing the bridge from Passaic to the borough of Wallington. The scene is near the U.S. Rubber Company laboratory on Market Street….” (The Bee, Danville, VA. “9 to 30 Dead…Bus Skids off Bridge into River.” 3-20-1944, 1.)
March 21: “Passaic, N.J., March 21 (AP) — The toll of known dead stood at 13 today in the plunge of an interurban bus from an ice-covered bridge into the 18-foot-deep channel of the Passaic river. Six passengers rescued from the submerged vehicle and one rescue worker were reported in good condition at hospitals today.
“Police officials said there was a strong possibility that additional victims still were in the river, and search was resumed today.
“Bodies of nine of the dead were recovered shortly before 10 p.m. last night (Eastern War Time)
when the bus was hoisted from the river bottom to the deck of a barge by a 40-ton construction crane. Bodies of two women passengers were recovered from the river earlier, and a third died shortly after being taken to a nearby war plant for treatment. One of the dead was a pedestrian pitched from the bridge as the bus ripped through the guardrail about 8 a.m yesterday during a sleet storm.” (Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Death Toll in Bus Plunge 13.” 3-21-1944, p. 10.)
Sources
Abilene Reporter-News, TX. “Bus Crash Kills at Least 28.” 8-5-1952, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=76894923
Daily Mail, Hagerstown, MD. “Death Toll in Bus Plunge 13.” 3-21-1944, p. 10. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=79321253
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1945 Britannica Book of the Year. 1945.
FindACase. “Monaco v. Comfort Bus Line Inc., New Jersey Supreme Court.” Decided 10-4-1946. Accessed at: http://nj.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19461004_0040039.NJ.htm/qx
HistoryOrb.com. “Historical Events on 20th March.” At: http://www.historyorb.com/events/march/20
National Safety Council. “Greatest Number of Deaths in a Single Motor-Vehicle Accident.” Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.
The Bee, Danville, VA. “9 to 30 Dead as Crowded Bus Skids off Bridge into River.” 3-20-1944, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=108938707
[1] Not used as high fatality estimate – early newspaper article. Twenty is the number used by the National Safety Council and nineteen that of a court case stemming from the event.
[2] Cites the National Safety Council, Chicago.