Accident Report Detail

​On February 24, 1983, an empty dump truck, traveling north on State Route 96, a two-lane rural highway near Willow Creek, California suddenly veered left across the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound schoolbus loaded with 37 occupants. The truckdriver and one schoolbus passenger seated directly behind the schoolbus driver were killed; the schoolbus driver and 30 passengers were injured.

​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the inattention of the truckdriver to the developing traffic situation ahead and the execution of a braking maneuver, that resulted in the truck sliding out of the proper lane of travel.

Contributing to the severity of some of the student injuries were the pre-Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222 schoolbus seats with exposed metal frames.