​On Monday, March 4, 2024, about 5:50 p.m. eastern standard time, a 2022 IC 77-passenger school bus occupied by a driver and 19 students and operated by the Calhoun County Board of Education was traveling south on State Highway 16 (SH 16) near Millstone in Calhoun County, West Virginia. As the driver navigated a left-hand curve, the bus departed the right side of the paved roadway and entered an earthen drainage channel with a culvert along the right side of the road. The right-front tire struck the end of the culvert; the bus then struck a fence and began to yaw counterclockwise as it reentered the roadway. The right-rear tire struck the culvert, and the bus rolled a quarter turn onto its right side before coming to rest across both lanes of SH-16. Three students on the bus sustained serious injuries, 16 students sustained minor injuries, and the driver was not injured.​

​​At the time of the crash, the Millstone school bus driver was impaired by alcohol, which resulted in his loss of control. We found that implementing alcohol detection systems on school buses can prevent alcohol-impaired driving by school bus drivers.

We also found that unbelted bus passengers were injured from impacting other occupants and the school bus interior during the rollover sequence. Lap/shoulder belts, had they been installed and properly worn, would have provided the best protection for the students by keeping the occupants within the protective seating compartment.

We determined that the probable cause of the Millstone, West Virginia, crash was the school bus driver’s alcohol impairment resulting in his loss of vehicle control and the school bus’s roadway departure and rollover. Contributing to the severity of the passenger injuries was the lack of passenger lap/shoulder belts on the large school bus.​​

​​​As a result of this investigation, we made the following new safety recommendations.  Read the compl​ete list​​ and status of recommendations. 

To the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

​Require that all new school buses be equipped with a vehicle-integrated alcohol detection system capable of preventing or limiting vehicle operation if driver impairment by alcohol is detected. (H-26-7)

To the state of West Virginia:

Enact legislation to require all passengers on school buses equipped with seat belts to properly use the seat belts on every trip. (H-26-8)

Establish, distribute, and require implementation of enforceable policies and procedures for seat belt use on school buses, with routine audits, for all school districts so that every student and driver on school buses equipped with passenger seat belts is properly restrained by lap/shoulder belts or five-point harnesses on every trip. The policies and procedures should at a minimum include: 

• ​​​m​andatory pre-departure driver instruction to students to properly belt and periodic pre-d​​eparture inspection by drivers or other staff to ensure that each student is properly belted; 
• periodic review of onboard video camera footage, when equipped, to verify seat belt use; and 
• increased training and education of school administrators and staff, bus drivers, parents, and students about proper seat belt use and adjustment, seat belt policies and procedures, the safety benefits of seat belt use, and the importance of being properly belted. (H-26-9)​​
  

• Enact legislation to require that all new large school buses be equipped with passenger lap/shoulder belts for all passenger seating positions in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222.
  

We also adopted the following classification change to a previously issued recommendation, H-25-26, to the Leander Independent School District. That recommendation is now classified Open—Acceptable Response.