Fatal Bus Accidents in Missouri

Fatal Bus Accidents in Missouri

In 2014, Missouri saw a total of 766 fatalities resulting from traffic accidents. The number represents an increase of 1.2 percent on an annual basis. Most of these crashes involve passenger vehicles like cars. When it comes to bus transportation safety, there are stricter regulations and requirements in place to protect the passengers.

Fatal Bus Accidents in Missouri

The 2015 edition of the Missouri Traffic Crashes report by the Department of Public Safety and the Missouri State Highway Patrol suggests that four fatal large bus crashes occurred during the year, killing four individuals. Also, there were 43 bus collisions causing injuries.

As far as small buses go, the fatal collisions were zero, and 55 cases contributed to injuries.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has even more thorough reports about bus collision fatalities. It’s interesting to point out that the data presented in these reports is different from what local authorities report. FMCSA’s latest reports cover the period from 2015 to 2017:

201520162017
Buses involved41241980
Number of Crashes40541880
Fatalities753
Injuries493547110

In 2013, three buses were involved in fatal collisions that contributed to the death of four people. In 2014, there were four crashes that killed five individuals.

Bureau of Transportation statistics reports that such crashes contribute to a relatively small percentage of the overall fatality rate. In 2011, bus crash fatalities made up 0.5 percent of all the deadly accidents on the road. In 2012, the figure was even smaller – 0.2 percent.

Safety Regulations

Missouri has some regulations aimed at making public and commercial transportation safer.

There are regulations pertaining to the distance that bus drivers have to maintain from a vehicle ahead of them. The aim of this regulation is to reduce the risk of a collision that results from a sudden stop of the vehicle ahead.

Unfortunately, MoDOT has no regulations about the maintenance requirements for vehicles serving passengers. Solely FMCSA maintenance and inspection criteria apply in the state. Vehicles that are brand new and up to five years of age are not required to go through an annual inspection.

Thus, while a couple of great provisions are created via the regulatory framework, a lot more can be desired when it comes to the proper maintenance of passenger transportation buses.

Recent Cases

One of the newest fatal accidents occurred in Ferguson in April 2017.

A pickup truck crashed into the rear end of a bus near Pershall Road. The pickup truck driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Later on, he died as a result of the trauma. The bus driver sustained some injuries, as well. Investigation into the collision was ongoing at the time of reporting.

St Louis witnessed a deadly accident in August 2016. A van and a bus collided at River City Boulevard. The van was carrying three passengers. One of the people inside the van was killed immediately by the collision. The other two passengers sustained injuries serious enough to necessitate hospital treatment.


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