Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Dec. 18, 2023:
National Transportation Safety Board investigators have determined the circumstances that led to a fatal crash on Nov. 14 in Ohio involving multiple vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, a motorcoach carrying high school band students and more.
A preliminary report from NTSB says that on Tuesday, Nov. 14, around 8:52 a.m. Eastern, a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia coupled with a 2017 Strickland trailer operated by Mid-State Systems Inc. was traveling westbound on I-70 when it approached “a traffic queue that had formed due to an earlier crash that occurred near milepost 117.2.”
According to NTSB, the truck “did not slow and struck the rear of a 2015 Nissan Murano, occupied by the driver and two passengers, traveling west in the right lane as it slowed for the traffic queue.” The truck then “overrode the Nissan and collided with the rear of a 2009 Van Hool motorcoach occupied by the driver and 54 passengers. The motorcoach struck the rear of a 2006 Toyota Highlander which rotated counterclockwise while travelling forward.”
The Toyota then hit the left side of a 2014 Volvo tractor-trailer before coming to rest in the left lane. As the motorcoach continued to travel forward, it struck another Volvo tractor and trailer in the rear.
Following the impact between the 2019 Freightliner and the Nissan, a post-crash fire ensued that consumed the truck, the Nissan and the rear of the motorcoach.
The occupants of the Nissan and three motorcoach passengers died in the crash. The drivers of the 2019 Freightliner, the motorcoach, and the Toyota, as well as several motorcoach passengers, were treated for injuries.
