About 3:28 p.m. on November 10, 1993, near Snyder, Oklahoma, a tractor-semitrailer travelling southbound on U.S. Rout 183 struck a 1993 Thomas Built Minotour school bus that was crossing the highway while travelling west on County Line Road. The 20-passenger school bus was occupied by the driver and nine children. The schoolbus driver said that she stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded to drive across Route 183. The truckdriver stated that the school busdriver hesitated and then pulled out in front of his truck. The school bus was struck in the right side behind the right-front entrance door. Eight children were not wearing the available lapbelts and were ejected. Four of the ejected children died; the injuries of the other four ranged from minor to serious. One child, the only occupant of the bus who was restrained was not ejected; he received minor injuries. The school busdriver was not ejected, but she was not wearing the lap-shoulder restraint and sustained severe injuries from contact with various parts of the bus interior. The truckdriver, who stated that he was wearing his lapbelt, received minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was that the school busdriver did not see the approaching truck because her view was obstructed, because she had not been provided with an effective strategy or other means for overcoming the view obstruction, and because she may have been distracted by the unruly passengers. Contribution to the severity of the accident were the truckdriver's failure to observe the speed advisory and the Cornell Construction Company's failure to systematically maintain the accident truck. The safety issues identified in this accident are the protection provided school bus occupants, the performance of the school busdriver and the view obstruction in the bus, the performance of the truckdriver, and the adequacy of motor carrier oversight. As a result of the investigation of this accident, the Safety Board makes recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Governors of the 50 States and the mayor of the District of Columbia, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Service, and the Cornell Construction Company.
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