1972 — Dec 26, Semi-trailer hits church bus on US 60-84 bridge near Fort Sumner, NM– 19

–19 AP. “19 persons died in bus-truck crash on small bridge…” Roswell Daily Republic, NM 12-27-1972, 1.
–19 NTSB. HAR. Wilmeth Cattle Co…Truck/Bridge/…Bus…Fort Sumner, NM, Dec 26, 1972.

Narrative Information

National Transportation Safety Board: “Synopsis At 6:40 p.m., m.s.t., on December 26, 1972, a leased school-bus-type vehicle carrying 34 persons was westbound on U.S. 60-84 about 10 miles east of Fort Sumner, New Mexico. A tractor-semitrailer carrying 4 cargo of cattle was eastbound on U.S. 60-84.

“As the tractor-semitrailer approached a narrow bridge, the truck driver observed the headlights of an approaching vehicle, which appeared to be on his side of the road. The truck driver steered to the right, and the right side of the tractor contacted a crash cushion at the entrance to the bridge. The right rear wheel of the tractor mounted the bridge curb. The tractor snagged the bridge rail and began to rotate clockwise as the right wheels of the trailer struck and mounted the bridge curb. The truck jackknifed on the bridge and continued eastward into the path of the bus. Fourteen feet east of the bridge, the bus struck the left side of the tractor, which then disengaged from the trailer. The frontwall of the trailer crushed the bus rearward. Both vehicles came to rest against the guardrail 21 feet east of impact. No fire ensued.

“Nineteen bus occupants, including the driver were killed. The 15 survivors suffered various types of injury. The truck driver also survived.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the initial collision (truck/bridge end-post) was the failure of the truck driver to keep his vehicle in its proper lane of travel on the highway. Factors that contributed to that condition were: (1) The influence on the truck driver of two oncoming vehicles, (2) the absence and deceptive placement of light-reflecting traffic control devices, (3) the absence of a solid centerline on the bridge and its approaches, (4) the narrow width of the bridge deck, and (5) the truck driver’s concern that braking would cause his vehicle to jackknife.

“The collision between the vehicles resulted from the engagement of the truck-tractor with the bridge end-post and interrupted surfaces of the rail which caused that vehicle to jackknife across and block both traffic lanes of the highway.

Contributing to some of the fatalities and to the severity of many injuries in the bus were

(1) the inadequate seat anchorage system and

(2 ) the absence of an integrated occupant restraint system such as seatbelts and highback cushioned seats.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that:

1. The Federal Highway Administration:

(a) Expedite development and implementation of a traffic-control system of positive guidance to assist drivers in remaining in the intended pathway at narrow highway structures. (Recommendation No. H-74-4)

(b) Restate more precisely the definition of narrow bridges in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and determine its adequacy and applicability. (A redefinition should be consistent with the intended use of any signing plan devised under recommendation 1(a) of this report.) (Recommendation No. H-74-5)

I Require all States to bring approach guardrail sections at bridges on Federal-aid highways into compliance with the recommended installation described in the FHWA’s Handbook of Highway Safety Design and Operating Practices. (Recommendation No. H-74-6).

(d) Expedite a program to improve, where feasible, substandard bridge-rail systems on existing bridges to increase resistance to pocketing or penetration by impacting vehicles of all classes and redirect those vehicles. Research, including crash testing, should also be expedited to develop criteria for mandatory standards for bridge-rail and guardrail designs for new bridge construction. (Recommendation No. H-74-7).

(e) Establish a program to identify and correct curb structures on existing bridges that create unnecessary hazards to the control of impacting vehicles. All new bridges should use railings that eliminate curbs. (Recommendation No. H-74-8).

(f) Develop a precise technical definition of crash cushions on the basis of minimum performance criteria. The factors defined should include not only classes of vehicles, but also velocities and angles of attack, so that standards can be established to require the most effective use of crash cushions on Federal-aid highways. Such standards would describe speeds and impact directions at which vehicle types will be adequately handled. (Recommendation No. H-74-9).

2. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

(a) Proceed with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket 73-3 Notice 1), to provide for (1) increased strength of scat anchorages which more fully uses the abilities of structures to protect passengers and (2) more protection against gross scat deflection which can permit seats to be carried away. (Recommendation No. H-74-10).

(b) Identify types of bus seat anchorages which are substantially below the strengths obtainable by such simple changes as substituting a bolt for a sheet metal screw. If it is possible to identify such buses by visual inspection, steps should be taken to inform owners of the possible change for local retrofit purposes. (Recommendation No. H-74-11).” (NTSB. Wilmeth Cattle Co…Truck/Bridge/Bus…Fort Sumner, NM, Dec 26, 1972.)

Newspaper

Dec 27: “Fort Sumer, N.M. (AP) – Nineteen persons were killed Tuesday [Dec 26] when a semi-trailer truck loaded with cattle clipped a guard rail on a narrow bridge on U.S. 60-84 near Fort Sumer and a chartered bus smashed into the trailer. ‘As far as I can recall, this is the worst traffic accident in the history of the state,’ said Deputy Chief Steve Lagomarsino of the New Mexico State Police. ‘This is by far the worst.’

“The bus was carrying 32-33 young people from the Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin, Tex., to Vadito, a New Mexico ski retreat near Glorieta Baptist Assembly. Another bus traveling ahead passed the truck safely moments before the crash. Reports of the number of injured varied from 14 to 16….

“The truck and the bus were so tightly fused together that four wreckers were unable to separate them. Two heavy duty wreckers from Roswell and a bulldozer finally were used to pull them apart. An unidentified truck driver with S.V. Trucking of Albuquerque hooked a two chain to his rig and pulled the cab of the cattle truck out of the way to help rescue efforts. He also helped to unload the cattle from the trailer. A number of the 32 cattle on the truck were killed. The injured animals were shot.. An area rancher pulled down a fence row and herded the others into a field….

“Frank Stanley, a radio newsman from Clovis, said seats in the bus were torn from their moorings by the impact and the frame of the bus tore loose from the body.

“All of the dead and injured were aboard the one bus involved in the collision….The bus…was hit hard enough so that the front end was pushed about halfway through the bus like an accordion….

“The driver of the cattle truck was identified as Ervy Wilmeth of Clovis. He was among those admitted with injuries to DeBaca hospital….

“The Rev. Mr. Abington said both buses were chartered from Transportation Enterprises Inc., Austin Rex. The buses were described as school but-type vehicles….

“Money problems have delayed replacement of the narrow bridge where the accident occurred. Acting Chief State Highway Engineer Tom McCarty said the bridge spans an arroyo 11 miles east of Fort Sumner. The steel and concrete bridge is 20 feet wide and 94 feet long. It was built in 1932. Normal standard width on new bridges for two lane highways was 26-28 feet up to last year. The new standard is well over 30 feet.. The Bridge where the accident occurred is 6-8 feet narrower than standards in effect up to last year and 10 feet narrower than the new standards. McCarty said there have been plans to replace the bridge but the plans were delayed because of a lack of financing for that type of project. He said, ‘It’s a money problem.’”

Sources:

Associated Press. “19 persons died in bus-truck crash on small bridge near Fort Sumner.” Roswell Daily Republic, NM. 12-27-1972, p. 1. Accessed 1-18-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/roswell-daily-record-dec-27-1972-p-1/

National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Wilmeth Cattle Company Truck/Bridge/Transportation Enterprises, Inc. Bus, U.S. 60-84, Fort Sumner, New Mexico, December 26, 1972 (NTSB HAR-74/01). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted February 27, 1974. Accessed at: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1974/HAR7401.htm