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Bus accident at Carrollton, Kentucky in 1988

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Kentucky DOT signs on both sides of Interstate 71 mark the scene of the bus crash on May 14, 1988 near Carollton, Kentucky

The bus accident at Carrollton, Kentucky in 1988 was one of the most disastrous bus accidents in United States history. A drunk driver collided with a church bus, killing 27 people and injuring 34 of 66 on board. The initial crash was exacerbated by the bus catching fire.

See the related article, Church bus and school bus safety for more information on the legal ramifications of this collision and current outstanding issues, and information intended to help non-profit organizations when buying, operating, and maintaining vans and buses for such purposes.

Table of contents

The accident

On May 14, 1988, a youth group and 4 adults from the First Assembly of God Church in Radcliff, Kentucky got in their bus, bought surplus from the Meade County School District, and headed to Kings Island amusement park (Near Cincinnati, Ohio, about 170 miles from Radcliff). The bus was driven by a volunteer bus driver, who was also a pastor of the church, and was filled to the maximum legal capacity with 66 passengers, mostly teenagers. After spending the whole day there, the group got on the bus and began traveling into Northern Kentucky towards Radcliff. During this time (About an hour), they stopped and filled the 60 gallon fuel tank with gasoline.

Just before 11PM while heading south on Interstate 71 outside of Carrollton, Kentucky, the bus collided almost head on with a black pickup truck traveling north in the southbound lane at a high speed. It was driven by Larry W. Mahoney, who was intoxicated.

The right front of the pickup truck hit the right front of the bus, breaking off the bus's suspension and driving the leaf spring backward into the gas tank mounted outside the frame, just behind the front door. The spring speared the gas tank which caught fire and killed twenty-seven of the sixty-seven people on board.

As of December, 2004 this collision had the highest death and injury toll of any school bus accident in United States history.

NTSB report of the collision

According to the National Transportation Safety Board report issued March 28, 1989:

"About 10:55 p.m. EDT on May 14, 1988, a pickup truck traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Interstate 71 struck head-on a church activity bus traveling southbound in the left lane of the highway near Carrollton, Kentucky. As the pickup truck rotated during impact, it struck a passenger car traveling southbound in the right lane near the church bus. The church bus fuel tank was punctured during the collision sequence, and a fire ensued, engulfing the entire bus. The bus driver and 26 bus passengers were fatally injured. Thirty-four bus passengers sustained minor to critical injuries, and six bus passengers were not injured. The pickup truck driver sustained serious injuries, but neither occupant of the passenger car was injured."

Post-collision actions

When fire broke out immediately after the collision, the bus driver, John Pearman, tried to put it out out with a small fire extinguisher. In approximately four minutes, the entire bus was on fire. The front door was blocked, and there were no emergency exit windows or roof hatches as found on commercial buses of the time. Survivors stated Pearman, the driver, helped children find their way down the narrow and dark aisle to the only practical way out of the smoke-filled bus; One adult managed to squeeze out a window. The other three aboard, including Pearman, died. Many bodies were found facing the only exit, the rear door.

Cranes loaded the bus onto a flatbed truck that transported the bus and victims to the National Guard Armory in Carrollton. There emergency crews went though the interior of the bus seat by seat in order to find and remove bodies.

Among the survivors, one person's foot had to be amputated, and about 10 others suffered disfiguring burns.

School bus and church bus standards and regulations

A contributing factor to the accident itself and the severity seemed to be loopholes between the laws and procedures for a school bus and those involving the same vehicle after it was released from school service, but continued to be used for transporting children.

Media coverage

Among the many media agencies which provided thorough coverage, which has extended even to the 10th and 15th anniversaries of the tragedy, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting for its coverage.

Following the NTSB report, and much sooner in many instances, many federal, state, and local agencies and bus manufacturers changed regulations, vehicle features, and operating practices.

Mahoney went to prison. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a grassroots organization, worked both before and after the Carrollton accident to reduce the hazards created by drunk (or drinking) drivers. Two mothers of Carrollton victims became national president and vice president of the organization.

There was considerable litigation. Ford Motor Company and others eventually contributed to settlements with all victims.

Long-term ramifications

NTSB summary conclusion

The NTSB determined "the probable cause of the collision between the pickup truck and the church activity bus was the alcohol-impaired condition of the pickup truck driver who, operated his vehicle opposite to the direction of traffic flow on an interstate highway."

"Contributing to the severity of the accident was the puncture of the bus fuel tank and ensuing fire in the bus, the partial blockage by the rear bench seats of the area leading to the rear emergency door which impeded rapid passenger egress, and the flammability of the materials in the bus seat cushions."

"The safety issues discussed in the report include:

  • effects of alcohol on driver performance,
  • effectiveness of driving-under-the-influence program in Kentucky,
  • current Federal standards used in school bus manufacture,
  • flammability and toxicity of school bus seating materials,
  • emergency egress on school buses, and
  • fuel system integrity of school buses"

Larry Mahoney

Mahoney, the driver of the truck the bus hit, was a repeat drunk-driving offender. He survived, sustaining only minor injuries. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .24 percent — substantially more than the legal limit in Kentucky. Mahoney had no memory of the crash, and learned of the collision after waking in the hospital the next day.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a Carroll County jury convicted him of 27 counts of second-degree manslaughter, 16 counts of second-degree assault and 27 counts of wanton endangerment. At the Kentucky State Reformatory, Mahoney worked in the medium-security facility as a janitor. He earned his GED high school equivalency diploma and participated in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs. Described by authorities as a model prisoner, Mahoney had his sentence reduced by six years. He served 10 years and 11 months before leaving the prison in LaGrange, outside Louisville, on September 1, 1999.

That week, according to a published account in The Courier-Journal (Louisville), some survivors of the crash and families of the victims had said that they were willing to forgive Mahoney though the tragedy marked forever the congregation of the First Assembly of God church in Radcliff, Kentucky, whose members were on the bus.

"I feel a little bit sorry for him", Katrina Henderson, then 23, told The Courier-Journal in 1998. He didn't wake up one day and say 'I'm going to kill 27 people.' That's not to take any blame away from him. I think that he is a person who made some very bad choices and he paid for those choices, said Henderson, who was 12 when she survived the wreck.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, in 2003, Mahoney was living in quiet, self-imposed obscurity in rural Owen County, Kentucky, about ten miles from the collision's site.

"I'm so happy that I got out of that alive.", Mahoney said, "From that day on I never drank again".

MADD and Drunk Driving prevention

The accident riveted the nation's attention on the problem of drunken driving like never before and has been credited in part with causing the steady decline in the number of alcohol-related fatalities.

One of the victims, the youngest killed on the fatal bus, was 10 year-old Patricia "Patty" Susan Nunnallee. Patty's mother, Karolyn Nunnallee became an active member of MADD after the crash, eventually becoming MADD's national president. Patty's mother wrote on MADD's memorial web page to Patty: They were traveling on a school bus, so I thought she'd be safe.

Janey Fair, whose 14 year old daughter Shannon was killed, become a national lobbyist for MADD, and rose within the organization to become a member of the Board of Directors and is a national vice-president. She is also head of the Kentucky Victims Coalition. According to the MADD website, "MADD helped me find my inner strength and see that life could go on," Janey said. "I have found I can make real changes in people's attitudes about drinking and driving and in how our government addresses this critical problem. Additionally, I can help other victims move forward in their lives."

Joy Williams, wife of Lee Williams, a pastor of the church, and their two young daughters, Kristen and Robin, were among those killed. Dotty Pearman's husband, John Pearman was associate pastor at the church and the bus driver, was also was killed while their daughter, Christy, was involved in the crash and survived.

In the year after the crash, Lee Williams and Dotty Pearman, who barely knew each other before the crash, became friends. The couple fell in love and, on July 8, 1989, they were married.

Lee and Dotty Williams also volunteer for MADD. Lee is a former chapter president of MADD in Hardin County, Kentucky, and Dotty is the current president. The couple often speaks to school groups, assists with health fairs and participates in other local events. "If I can persuade one person not to drink and drive, I've won," said Dotty. "I especially think it is important to educate children early on about the dangers of drinking and driving. We need to address the issue of alcohol with youth before it becomes a problem."

Changes in Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky now requires all school buses to have nine emergency exits--more than any other federal or state standard. This includes front and back doors, a side door, four emergency windows and two roof exits. The bus that crashed at Carrollton had only front and back exits, and 11 rows of 39" seats, including the crucial area near the rear door.

Buses used by Kentucky schools must also have a cage around the fuel tank, a stronger frame and roof to resist crumpling on impact and rollover, high-backed seats, extra seat padding, a fuel system that slows leaks, flame-retardant seats and floors, reflective tape on all emergency exits, and strobe lights on the exterior. Schools also must have a diesel-powered fleet.

MADD officials have expressed frustration that Kentucky's laws involving drinking and driving have not been as "progressive" as those in many other states.

Memorials

Several memorials exist:

  • Ford Motor Company paid for a black marble memorial in North Hardin Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Radcliff, Kentucky. The stone lists the names of all of the persons who were aboard the bus during the crash.

References

See also

External links







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