WALTHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Investigators spent Saturday night reviewing the scene where a Brandeis shuttle crashed, leading to the death of one student and the injury and hospitalization of 27 others.
Everything from grass marks, where exactly the bus went off the road, how far it traveled, examination the curb itself and of course a very detailed review of the damage to the bus, has been documented.
Steven Becker is an Accident Reconstruction Expert with more than two decades of experience working in 300+ investigations. He said Saturday’s bus crash was relatively straightforward, from a reconstruction standpoint. He also said coach buses like the one from the crash are considered relatively safe.
“After it left the roadway for 100-150 feet a bus applying moderate braking can typically stop within that distance if its traveling at about the speed limit,” Becker said. “So either the bus is traveling excessively high-speed prior to a tremendous amount of braking, or the bus suffered a steering, or brake, mechanical failure, or the driver had a medical condition that occurred prior to the vehicle leaving the roadway.”
Becker said looking into the driver’s medical history and licensing would be a priority for investigators. Much like airplanes, the bus may also have had a “black box” data recorder for investigators to review.
In this case what we have is the proceeding trees limbs are at such a height that it took off a good portion of the bus, and the bus just came to a stop,” Becker said. So the limbs interacting with the side of the bus is what’s going to cause most of the injuries for the passengers.”
According to federal transportation safety records, the bus company that operates the shuttles for Brandeis has only had one reported injury crash over the last two years, and no fatalities in that timeframe.
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