'05 bus crash report coming out
WAUSAU — Three years after a bus slammed into an overturned semitrailer truck on Interstate 94, killing five people, the National Transportation Safety Board is ready to announce what role tired drivers played in the crash.
“There are fatigue issues involved in this accident. We have looked at fatigue for years. It has been a concern of ours in all forms of transportation for quite some time,” said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the five-member board in Washington, D.C. “Those issues will be very thoroughly examined.”
The Oct. 16, 2005, crash happened when the bus carrying 44 members of the Chippewa Falls High School marching band, teachers and chaperones home from a competition in Whitewater slammed into an overturned semi en route from Indiana to Minnesota in the early morning darkness.
The board meets Tuesday at its headquarters in Washington to receive a 60-page report on findings of the investigation into the crash, he said.
The board could make recommendations to improve highway safety as a result of the probe, Knudson said. The report won’t be public until Tuesday, he said.
Sep 15, 2008 at 1:17 p.m.
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The driver of the bus was also not wearing his correct glasses
Sep 15, 2008 at 6:14 a.m.
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The truck driver was found not guilty at jury trial.
Sep 15, 2008 at 1:59 a.m.
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The motorcoach, carrying 55 members of the school’s marching band returning from state competition at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, crashed into the underside of a semi-truck that had overturned on the westbound lanes of Interstate 94 near Osseo.
The crash killed: Chi-Hi co-band director Doug Greenhalgh, 48; his wife Therese, 51; their 11-year-old granddaughter, Morgan Greenhalgh; 78-year-old motorcoach driver Paul Rasmus; and 24-year-old band student teacher Branden Atherton.
Thirty-five others received minor to serious injuries, and the crash has spawned a series of lawsuits against truck driver Michael Kozlowski.
In a two-week trial in April and May 2007, Kozlowski was found not guilty of 33 criminal counts.
This will be interesting, as it's a close call as to wether the bus driver was part of the original truck over turning accident or he simply came along after the initial accident and plowed into the accident scene. The bus driver was elderly, had driven many miles and reportedly was not wearing required prescription glasses.
The locals wanted to, predictably, hang it on the truck driver. That failed in court.
The report conclusions should be interesting.
Sep 14, 2008 at 8:22 p.m.
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3 years? Really. 3 years to investigate and make a report...what happened to all of our productivity gains?.
Sep 14, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.
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The bus driver was one of the victims. He clearly wasn't the only one at fault
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