What Happened
What Happened
On September 21, 2023, about 1:12 p.m. eastern daylight time, a 2014 Prevost H3-45 motorcoach operated by Regency Transportation LTD was traveling west on Interstate 84 (I-84) in Wawayanda, New York, when its left-front (steer) tire failed. As a result of the tire failure, the motorcoach was abruptly pulled to the left, crossed the left lane and shoulder, penetrated a roadside cable barrier, traveled down into the median, and rolled before coming to rest on its left side. The motorcoach was occupied by a 59-year-old driver, 40 high school students, and 3 adult chaperones. Two adult chaperones were ejected and fatally injured. The driver was ejected and seriously injured, 14 other occupants sustained serious injuries, and 27 had minor injuries.
What We Found
What We Found
We determined that the probable cause of the Wawayanda, New York, roadway departure crash was the tread/belt detachment and casing rupture of the left steer axle tire on the motorcoach due to prolonged operation in an underinflated condition combined with previous impact damage to the tire interior. Contributing to the crash was Regency Transportation’s inadequate vehicle inspection process, which permitted the motorcoach to operate with underinflated tires. Contributing to the severity of the injuries was the motorcoach occupants’ failure to use the available lap/shoulder belts.
What We Recommended
The Wawayanda crash demonstrates that proper tire pressure maintenance is critical:
- A properly configured tire pressure monitoring system can alert vehicle operators to under- or overinflated tires.
- Periodic tire pressure gauge checks—beyond visual inspection—should be undertaken as a part of a vehicle inspection in the event that a tire pressure monitoring system is not configured or functioning properly.
The NTSB has previously recommended both manual tire pressure checks and tire pressure monitoring systems.
The crash also serves as a reminder that:
- Lap/shoulder belts should be worn by all drivers and passengers in motorcoaches and can prevent injury or ejection during collisions.
- Educational institutions and other organizations that use motorcoach transportation have a duty to ensure passenger safety; they can significantly increase seat belt use by making students and adult chaperones aware of state seat belt laws and implementing their own mandatory seat belt use policies for student transportation.
Following the crash, the New York Legislature passed Assembly Bill A8557 requiring charter buses be equipped with seat belts and mandating their use. The law took effect in April 2025, applies to minor and adult passengers in charter buses, and provides different penalty structures based on passenger age.
The New York Department of Education’s work to modify transportation safety policy for charter bus trips is an important step in addressing this critical safety issue by requiring motor carriers to provide pretrip safety briefings and establishing procedures to comply with the new seat belt law.
