Accident Report Detail

On September 29, 1986, a Leatherwood Motor Coach Corporation charter bus carrying 38 passengers was traveling northbound on I-295, a four-lane divided highway near Camey's Point, New Jersey en route to Atlantic City, New Jersey. After passing three tractor-semitrailers in the left lane, the bus moved into the right lane and struck the rear of another slower moving tractor-semtrailer. The two vehicles continued forward and traveled northbound about 432 feet before coming to a stop. Two bus passengers were seriously injured, 5 bus passengers were moderately injured and the busdriver and 31 bus passengers received minor Injuries. The truckdriver was not injured.

​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the busdriver's inattention to his driving task and his misjudgment of the closing speed between the bus and the truck In front of him. Contributing to the accident was the motor carrier's failure to adequately screen the busdriver's qualifications and background. Contributing to the severity of injuries was the high speed of the bus.