The Grafton bus accident killed 21 people and injured 22 on the Pacific Highway in New South Wales North Coast near Grafton. At a time between 3:50 and 4:00 am on Friday, October 20, 1989, a southern semi trailer truck carrying a tinned juice load turned the wrong side of the road and collided with a Sunliner Express bus traveling the other. way. The bus carried forty-five passengers. The impact of semi-trailer trucks resulted in the penetration of the bus side, both spilling passengers onto the road as well as causing trauma for passengers inside the bus interior. At the time, this accident was the worst in Australia's ground transportation history in terms of the number of deaths.
Truck drivers, who were among the dead, were found to have concentrations of ephedrine in their blood, a stimulant similar to amphetamine. The concentration found was 80 times more than the normal therapeutic level, even for chronic users. It was later discovered that truck drivers used ephedrine to stay awake and alert, which was then commonly used by long-distance drivers.
Video Grafton bus crash
Reactions and consequences
This accident was one of the few on the Pacific Highway involving buses during a relatively short period. Less than five months earlier, another bus had run off the road, without any casualties; just two months later, on December 22, 1989, a Kempsey bus accident involving two buses killed more passengers.
The examination of the Grafton bus crash was conducted through two hearings in early 1990. The first trial established the specific cause of the accident, and the second trial examined matters relevant to road safety in Australia: speed limits on undivided roads; speed limits in motor vehicles, especially in heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses; drivers have multiple licenses from different Australian jurisdictions; transfer of driver and vehicle information between Australian states and territories; collection, collection, analysis and reporting of accidents statistics; driver fatigue, including sleepy and obstructive sleep apnea; setting driving hours for truck and bus drivers; drugged driving; aftermarket fitment of bullbars on motor vehicles; construction standards for buses and bus seats; the use of multi-combination heavy vehicles such as B-double trucks and highway trains; standard mass and dimensions for trucks; use of radar detector devices to avoid police speed enforcement; advertising and education of road safety; and general matters related to road construction and national road transport and road transport policy.
The response to this incident is an effort in Australia, and particularly in New South Wales, to better manage the heavy transport industry. This includes banning "awake" drugs, limiting uninterrupted driving time and requiring rest periods. The long-distance bus design standards and their safety equipment were also reviewed and proposals were made to increase the Pacific Highway to a divided road along the road between Sydney and Brisbane.
There is a warning for travelers involved in the Grafton Bus Disaster located in the enclosed section of the old Pacific Highway in Cowper.
This accident and the Kempsey bus accident eight weeks later were described as "Australia's most catastrophic examples of catastrophic consequences/low probabilities in the bus industry" in the bus safety discussion document.
Maps Grafton bus crash
See also
- Disaster list in Australia with death rate
References
External links
- Australian Emergency Management Summary
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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