On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, about 8:47 a.m. eastern standard time, a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia truck-tractor in combination with a 2017 Strickland semitrailer (Freightliner combination vehicle), operated by Mid-State Systems Inc., was traveling west in the right lane of Interstate 70 (I-70) near Etna, Ohio. Near milepost 118.8, the Freightliner combination vehicle approached a traffic queue that had formed due to an earlier minor crash that occurred 1.6 miles west. The speed limit for I-70 near the crash was 70 mph. The Freightliner combination vehicle did not slow and crashed into the rear of the traffic queue, causing a chain-reaction collision and postcrash fire that involved five vehicles, including two passenger vehicles, a motorcoach, and a second combination vehicle. Immediately before the crash, the Freightliner combination vehicle was traveling about 72 mph and the other four vehicles were traveling between 3 and 15 mph, consistent with the slow-moving traffic queue.
As a result of the crash, three motorcoach passengers and three passenger vehicle occupants were fatally injured. The driver and two passengers of the motorcoach, as well as the driver of a passenger vehicle, were seriously injured. The driver of the Freightliner combination vehicle (truck driver) and 36 motorcoach passengers sustained minor injuries. Fourteen motorcoach passengers and the Volvo combination vehicle driver were uninjured in the crash.
We determined that the probable cause of the Etna, Ohio, crash was the truck driver’s inattention and failure to respond, for unknown reasons, to the visibly slow-moving vehicles, including a motorcoach, at the end of a traffic queue caused by an earlier minor crash. Contributing to the crash was the lack of adequate strategies to monitor the development of the traffic queue on I-70 after a minor incident and to inform travelers of the traffic conditions ahead. Also contributing to the crash was the lack of an in-vehicle driver monitoring system to return the truck driver’s attention to the forward roadway. Contributing to the severity of the crash and occupant injuries were the speed differential between the combination vehicle and the slow-moving traffic queue and the postcrash fire.
As a result of this investigation, we made 8 new safety recommendations.
Read the complete list of recommendations and review their status. We issued recommendations to:
To the Federal Highway Administration:
- Issue guidance to states to clarify that:
• traffic incident classification (as minor, intermediate, or major) should consider not only the duration of lane closure but also factors such as location of vehicles when moved off the roadway, number of lanes available, queue development, and lanes affected; and
• communications between responding and transportation agencies are critical for all traffic incidents in which a queue has formed or is likely to form.
- Revise your Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways to address traffic queues, including:
• ensuring that all traffic incident classifications (minor, intermediate, and major) are defined using a consistent standard, such as the incident’s overall effect on the flow of traffic;
• emphasizing the importance of communications between responding and transportation agencies for all incidents in which a traffic queue has formed or is likely to form; and
• ensuring that traffic queues are monitored and procedures established throughout the traffic incident management to notify road users of the queue. - Update your Proven Safety Countermeasures publication to incorporate end-of-queue protections as well as effective communication strategies to provide advance warning to drivers approaching the end of a traffic queue, especially on freeways and highways.
- For all commercial vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings greater than 10,000 pounds, require driver monitoring systems that detect risky driving behavior, including but not limited to driver inattention, and that provide instantaneous feedback that communicates to the driver through multimodal signaling the need to bring attention back to the driving task.
To the Ohio Department of Transportation:
- Implement a statewide strategy for the use of variable speed limits at locations with high congestion, high crash rates, or a high likelihood of queue formation after a traffic incident occurs.
To the American Trucking Associations, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, American Bus Association, United Motorcoach Association, Amalgamated Transit Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and Transport Workers Union of America:
- Inform your members about the Etna, Ohio, crash, and promote the potential safety benefits of in-cab alert technology to encourage owner-operators and carriers to use these systems.
- Inform your members about the Etna, Ohio, crash; the safety benefits of collision avoidance technologies including forward collision warning (FCW), automatic emergency braking (AEB), and driver monitoring systems; and the safety risks associated with opting out of purchasing the advanced driver assistance systems, including FCW and AEB, offered by heavy vehicle manufacturers.
To the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District:- Update your process for chartering motorcoach or other large bus transportation to prioritize the selection of operators that provide and require the use of lap/shoulder belts for all seating positions,
- Complete, as soon as possible, the development and application of performance standards and protocols for the assessment of forward collision avoidance systems in commercial vehicles. (H-15-5)
- Revise Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 302 to adopt the more rigorous performance standards for interior flammability and smoke emissions characteristics already in use throughout the US Department of Transportation for commercial aviation and rail passenger transportation. (H-15-12)
