Fatal Bus Accidents in Illinois
Illinois ranks among the states that see a relatively big number of fatal collisions on public roadways. The number was 914 in 2015, and 998 people were killed. The figure represents a seven percent increase on an annual basis. An increase in total collisions and injuries has also been seen.
Fatal Accident Statistics
Of all motor vehicles involved in crashes, buses contributed to the smallest number of fatalities. The Illinois Department of Transportation report for 2015 provides the following crash statistics:
| Crash Severity | Vehicle Occupants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | Fatal | Injury | Total | Killed | A-Injury |
| Car | 843 | 95,390 | 449,209 | 504 | 8,197 |
| Pickup | 174 | 6,466 | 44,339 | 99 | 958 |
| Van | 86 | 8,037 | 35,170 | 40 | 733 |
| Single Unit Truck | 22 | 1,291 | 8,177 | 5 | 72 |
| Truck Tractor | 89 | 2,036 | 12,418 | 7 | 116 |
| Farm Tractor | 4 | 100 | 466 | 2 | 9 |
| School Bus | 3 | 270 | 1,707 | 0 | 41 |
| Commercial Bus | 9 | 617 | 2,972 | 2 | 50 |
| Motorcycle | 143 | 2,165 | 3,107 | 141 | 815 |
It’s easy to see that commercial buses are far from the deadliest vehicles on the road. To shed some further light on the situation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has specialized reports pertaining to fatalities occurring as a result of bus accidents:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buses involved | 774 | 792 | 137 |
| Number of Crashes | 766 | 789 | 136 |
| Fatalities | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| Injuries | 768 | 673 | 167 |
In 2013, there were nine people killed in fatal bus collisions. The number of fatalities increased to 10 people in 2014 and once again – 10 people in 2015. While the fatality rate has been going down over the past few years, the number of crashes involving buses has gone up.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics also has reports about the occurrence of such accident fatalities. These relate to earlier years and show that the situation is more or less unchanged in Illinois. In 2010, the state had five fatal crashes, representing 0.4 percent of all deadly collisions.
The Newest Deadly Crashes
FMCSA statistics for 2017 are incomplete because data is still being gathered. This is the reason why a rather serious collision that contributed to multiple deaths hasn’t been included among the numbers.
In May 2017, four people were killed, and five sustained injuries after a head-on collision occurred between a bus and a passenger car. The car was presumably going very fast when the accident occurred on the Near West Side in Chicago.
The driver of the automobile lost control, which caused the collision and subsequent fire. Luckily, one of the bus passengers reacted adequately and used a fire extinguisher to put the flames out.
Investigators reported later on that alcohol may have been involved in the deadly crash. Police found a bottle inside the Buick, suspecting that the driver had consumed some. Both the car’s driver and the passenger traveling next to him were killed on the spot.
In August 2017, one person was killed, and four were injured after teenagers stole a car and crashed it into a bus. The accident occurred in Dolton when the teenagers attempted to flee from a traffic stop. The vehicle that they were driving was reported as stolen in Indiana.