1973 — Nov 3, Driver Heart Attack, Charter Bus Crash, I-880 near Sacramento, CA — 13

–19 Oakland Tribune, CA. “19 Die, Score Hurt as Bus Hits Overpass.” 11-4-1973, 1.
–13 NTSB, HAR. Greyhound Bus Collision with Concrete Overpass…Column…I-880. 1974.
–13 St. Petersburg Times, FL. “Bus driver medical exams urged.” 2-7-1975, p. 12.
–13 The Argus, Fremont, CA. “Gamblers’ tour tragedy.” 11-5-1973, p. 2.

Narrative Information

National Transportation Safety Board: “At 9 PM on November 3, 1973, a charter Greyhound bus, eastbound on 1-880 near Sacramento, California, ran off the road, overrode a guardrail and collided with a column which supported the San Juan Bridge Overpass. The speed of the bus was about 67 mph. The bus veered from the inside lane to the outside lane. The 48-inch diameter bridge support column penetrated the center of the bus to a depth of 21 ft. The driver and 12 passengers were killed; 22 passengers were hospitalized for moderate to critical injuries.

“The probable cause of the accident was driver incapacitation.

“Interstate 880 is a six lane divided highway with 3 lanes in each direction. The lanes are 12 ft wide with a 10 ft shoulder. The speed limit is 65 mph. At the time of the accident, the weather was dry and clear.

“The basic structure of the bus was light gauge steel and aluminum. The engine and transmission were in the rear. The bus engine was governed so it could not exceed a speed of 67 mph. The overpass column penetrated the center front of the bus to a depth of 21 ft and drove the front axles and wheels back to the cargo dept. The driver’s station and controls separated from the bus structure and were thrown against another support column, 52 ft beyond the point of impact. All seats failed. Apparently no brakes were applied. The driver may have had a heart attack because he was clutching his chest when the accident occurred. The driver was 45 lbs overweight. The passengers who were thrown out of the bus or impacted the column died. The calculated acceleration forces were 7.5g, with an approximate duration of 0.42 seconds, within human tolerance. Decelerated from 65 mph in 21 ft.” (National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Greyhound Bus Collision with Concrete Overpass Support Column on 1-880, San Juan Overpass, Sacramento, California, November 3,1973. Washington, DC: NTSB, 1974.)

Newspapers

Nov 4: “Sacramento (AP) – Nineteen persons were killed and about two dozen injured Saturday night when a Greyhound bus from San Francisco smashed into a freeway overpass abutment near here, officials reported.

“The front end of the bus disintegrated and wreckage was strewn over Interstate Highway 880 near Interstate 880 five miles north of downtown Sacramento. ‘There are bodies and pieces of bodies all over the freeway,’ Wayne Kint, a reporter for the Sacramento Union, said from the scene. At least 20 ambulances were summoned to the wreckage of a charter en route to Keno, Nev.

“An hour after the crash, Sacramento County Coroner Ed Nielsen said 19 were dead and rescue workers were disassembling the crushed bus looking for more bodies. He said nine persons were dead at the scene and 10 upon arrival at hospitals.

“Greyhound charter records indicated 44 passengers were scheduled for the charter, but Nielsen said he did not know whether all actually were on the bus. ‘Nineteen are dead. We are not into the bus yet,’ he said. ‘Obviously they were killed instantly.’

“He said the driver and five passengers died when they were hurled from the bus. The other victims were trapped inside, he said.

“The bus was northbound on Interstate 880 which is a bypass five miles north of downtown Sacramento. Authorities said it swerved off the highway and hit a pillar under Interstate 5. The pillar bit 15 feet into the bus.

“The Greyhound was a Scenicruiser which has most of its passenger seats elevated. It was the only vehicle damaged, officers said.

“The Highway Patrol said eyewitness accounts conflicted. Some witnesses said the bus swerved to avoid a vehicle, another motorist said it swerved for no apparent reason on the clear, crisp autumn night.

“About two dozen persons were rushed to the Sacramento Medical Center, where all available help was called on an emergency basis.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “19 Die, Score Hurt as Bus Hits Overpass.” 11-4-1973, p. 1.)

Nov 5: “Sacramento, Calif. (UPI) – A weekend ‘gamblers’ special Greyhound tour bus speeding to Reno with 43 passengers hoping for luck at the casinos crashed into a freeway pillar Saturday night, killing 13 persons. Everyone else on the bus was injured, eight critically.

“The unexplained accident occurred on Interstate 880, the highspeed freeway between the San Francisco Bay area and the gambling meccas around Lake Tahoe and Reno.

“`The guy (bus driver) practically ran us off the road,’ said Bernard Norton, 25, Sacramento, whose car was passed by the bus minutes before the crash. ‘He had to be doing 90 or 100, because my wife was going 70.’

“California Highway Patrol officers said the Greyhound special it a steel guard rail and ‘plowed dead center’ into a pillar supporting an overpass. The impact split the bus open about one-third of its length and sprayed passengers, seats and parts of the bus over an area the size of a football field.

“The trip was sponsored by a Negro group called ‘Variety Swingers’ from Richmond, Calif., across the bay from San Francisco. All the victims – seven men and six women – were black.

“The bus driver was identified Sunday as Douglas Moore, 26, also of the San Francisco Bay area. He was killed instantly….” (The Argus, Fremont, CA. “Gamblers’ tour tragedy.” 11-5-1973, p. 2.)

Feb 7, 1975: “New York – A federal accident investigation board urged Wednesday that stringent new medical screening procedures – similar to those required of airline pilots – be implemented for the nation’s more than 20,000 intercity bus drivers.

“The recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board was contained in a report analyzing a bus accident near Sacramento, Calif., on Nov. 3, 1973. In the accident, the driver of a chartered Greyhound bus, after suddenly clutching his chest in pain and taking his hands from the steering wheel, drove into a concrete road pillar at 67 miles per hour. The driver and 12 passengers were killed, and 33 other passengers were injured.

“Under present federal regulations, only a relatively cursory medical check-up for bus drivers is required every two years, the safety board said.” (St. Petersburg Times, FL. “Bus driver medical exams urged.” 2-7-1975, p. 12.)

Sources

National Transportation Safety Board. Highway Accident Report. Greyhound Bus Collision with Concrete Overpass Support Column on 1-880, San Juan Overpass, Sacramento, California, November 3,1973. Washington, DC: NTSB, 1974. Abstract accessed 2-5-2012 at: http://www.nrc.gov/materials/transportation/certification/package-study/rwma92.pdf

Oakland Tribune, CA. “19 Die, Score Hurt as Bus Hits Overpass.” 11-4-1973, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune/1973-11-04/page-1/

St. Petersburg Times, FL. “Bus driver medical exams urged.” 2-7-1975, p. 12. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19750207&id=mkBSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hnkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7420,4986105

The Argus, Fremont, CA. “Gamblers’ tour tragedy.” 11-5-1973, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/argus/1973-11-05/page-2/