On Thursday, February 16, 2012, about 8:15 a.m. eastern standard time, near Chesterfield, New Jersey, a Garden State Transport Corporation 2012 IC Bus, LLC, school bus was transporting 25 kindergarten-sixth-grade students to Chesterfield Elementary School. The bus was traveling north on Burlington County Road (BCR) 660 through the intersection with BCR 528, while a Herman's Trucking Inc. 2004 Mack roll-off truck with a fully loaded dump container was traveling east on BCR 528, approaching the intersection. The school bus driver had stopped at the flashing red traffic beacon and STOP sign. As the bus pulled away from just forward of the white stop line on BCR 660 and entered the intersection, it failed to yield to the truck and was struck behind the left rear axle. The bus rotated nearly 180 degrees and subsequently struck a traffic beacon support pole. One bus passenger was killed. Five bus passengers sustained serious injuries, 10 bus passengers and the bus driver received minor injuries, and nine bus passengers and the truck driver were uninjured.
We determined that the probable cause of the Chesterfield, New Jersey, crash was the school bus driver’s failure to observe the Mack roll-off truck, which was approaching the intersection within a hazardous proximity. Contributing to the school bus driver’s reduced vigilance were cognitive decrements due to fatigue as a result of acute sleep loss, chronic sleep debt, and poor sleep quality, in combination with, and exacerbated by, sedative side effects from his use of prescription medications.
We made recommendations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); states of California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Texas; National Truck Equipment Association; National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services; National Association for Pupil Transportation; National School Transportation Association; School Bus Manufacturers Technical Council; National Safety Council, School Transportation Section; and Herman’s Trucking Inc. We reiterated four recommendations to the FMCSA and three recommendations to NHTSA.
