A truck driver’s “inattention and failure to respond” to traffic slowing down in front of him caused a multivehicle crash that killed six people and injured 41, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a final report published Wednesday.
On November 14, 2023, a Mid State Systems tractor trailer traveling west on Ohio’s I-70 did not slow down for a traffic backup that formed after an earlier crash, the NTSB reported. The semi slammed into the slow-moving vehicles at 72 miles an hour, which triggered a chain-reaction collision.
The truck first hit an SUV but went over it and slammed into the back of a motorcoach. The bus then hit an SUV, spinning it to the side before slamming into another truck. Even before the vehicles stopped moving a fire broke out, which quickly spread to the back three vehicles.
The bus, which was carrying students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District to a band performance, did not have seat belts for passengers.
Three students on the motorcoach and three parent chaperones and a teacher in one of the SUVs were killed. The truck driver had minor injuries.
The NTSB could not determine why the truck driver was not paying attention, the report noted.
Contributing to the crash was authorities’ lack of a strategy to monitor and communicate the traffic slowdown, the report determined.
An in-vehicle monitoring system, which could have helped return the truck driver’s attention to the roadway, and the speed difference between the truck and the slow-moving traffic also contributed, the NTSB concluded.
The board issued eight new safety recommendations and reiterated two previous recommendations. They called for stronger federal guidance on managing traffic queues and communications between agencies, performance standards for collision avoidance technology in commercial vehicles, requirements for driver monitoring systems in commercial vehicles and more rigorous interior fire safety standards for motorcoaches.
The Ohio Department of Transportation was also urged to implement a statewide strategy for the use of variable speed limits, where traffic can be slowed in the event of congestion.
The board also recommended the school district prioritize bus operators that provide and require the use of seat belts.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
