imported>Don Pollolingangu: /* Investigation */ Fixed grammar

2025-05-22T00:54:13Z

Investigation: Fixed grammar

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{{short description|Deadly school bus crash in Martinez, California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = Yuba City bus disaster

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| date = May 21, 1976
| time = 10:55 AM
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| operator = Student Transportation Lines, Inc
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| cause = Brake failure due to insufficient maintenance, driver training, driver proficiency

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| passengers = 53
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| deaths = 29
| injuries = 24
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The '''Yuba City bus disaster''' occurred on May 21, 1976, in [[Martinez, California|Martinez]], [[California]]. A chartered school bus transporting 52 passengers on an elevated offramp left the roadway, landing on its roof.<ref name="SFGate">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/20-Long-Years-Later-Martinez-Remembers-A-School-2966704.php|title=20 Long Years Later, Martinez Remembers A School Bus Crash|author=Erin Hallissy|date=1996-09-16|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|access-date=2013-11-19}}</ref> Of the 52 passengers (not including the driver), 28 students and an adult adviser were killed in the crash.<ref name="SFGate" />

It remains the deadliest highway disaster ever investigated by the [[National Transportation Safety Board|National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)]] since its creation.<ref name="SPT19760522">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19760522&id=TyIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VF0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6163,4811573|title=School bus crash kills 28|author1=Hager, Philip|date=May 22, 1976|work=[[Los Angeles Times|LA Times]] (via St. Petersburg Times)|author2=Lembke, Daryl|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

== Incident ==

On May 21, 1976, [[Yuba City High School]] chartered a school bus from Student Transportation Lines, Inc. to transport its ''[[a cappella]]'' choir from [[Yuba City, California]], to [[Miramonte High School]] in [[Orinda, California|Orinda]] for a [[friendship day]] involving the choirs of the two schools.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19760522&id=OQMOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4232,2099672|title=28 Killed in Calif. School Bus Crash|date=May 22, 1976|agency=AP|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref> The company supplied a [[Crown Supercoach|Crown]] bus, dating from 1950.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="SPT19760522" />

The [[Bus accident|accident]] occurred at 10:55 a.m., as the driver, Evan Prothero, 49, of [[Olivehurst, California|Olivehurst]], took the Marina Vista Avenue off-ramp (exit 56) from [[I-680 (CA)|I-680]] southbound from the [[Benicia–Martinez Bridge]]. Prothero was unfamiliar with this bus, and mistook the low air pressure warning (for the air brakes) for a warning of low engine oil pressure. Intending to stop for oil,<ref name=":0" /> the driver exited the freeway at the aforementioned off ramp; the air brake system failed due to lack of air pressure. With no braking capability, the bus struck the mounted bridge rail and left the elevated roadway. After falling {{convert|21.6|feet|abbr=off|sp=us}}, the bus landed on its roof, crushing it to the base of the window line.

== Victims ==
Out of the 52 passengers on board, 28 students and an adult adviser were killed.<ref name="SFGate" /> All of the surviving passengers were injured, most critically.<ref name=":0" /> The driver survived the crash but was seriously hurt.<ref name="SPT19760522" /> The crash claimed one additional victim. Daniel I. Wright, 15, died on May 24, 1976, at the Highland Hospital in Oakland, California due to the injuries he sustained in the crash.<ref name=":4">"Another bus crash victim dies as town begins burying dead." ''The San Bernardino County Sun'', May 25, 1976, pg 16. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112654728/yuba-city-bus-crash/</ref>

== Investigation ==

The accident was investigated by the [[National Transportation Safety Board]], which it attributed to the unfamiliarity and inexperience of the driver with the design of the 26-year-old bus and his confusion with oil pressure and air pressure warnings.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/HAR7702.aspx|title=Accident Investigation - NTSB|date=1977-09-29|publisher=[[National Transportation Safety Board]]|access-date=2013-11-19}}</ref> Contributing to the accident were:
# The failure of the air compressor drivebelt
# The failure of the maintenance program and pre-trip inspection to detect and replace the deteriorated air compressor drivebelt
# The failure of the signing system to adequately alert the driver to the critical geometrics of the ramp
# The severe radius of the curvature of the ramp
# The design of the curb as part of the ramp railing
# A bridge rail system that did not redirect the bus.<ref name=":1" />

The upside of the accident is that the training and testing for school bus drivers has been improved, plus the design and construction of school buses has been improved. Additionally pre-trip and post-trip inspections and repairs are now more enhanced

==Memorials==
The Yuba City bus disaster was the second-worst bus disaster in U.S. history, exceeded only by the [[1963 Chualar bus crash|1963 train-bus collision in Chualar, California]], which claimed the lives of 32 Mexican farmworkers.

In May 1996, on the twentieth anniversary of the accident, a memorial built near the water at the Martinez Marina was dedicated to the victims. Bearing the names of those who died, it was constructed by firefighters who had responded to the accident and their friends and largely funded by them and donations they obtained.<ref name="Claycord">{{cite web|url=http://claycord.com/2012/05/21/the-worst-bus-crash-in-the-nations-history-happened-36-years-ago-in-martinez/ |title=The Worst Bus Crash in the Nation's History Happened 36 Years Ago in Martinez|publisher=Claycord.com |access-date=2013-11-19}}</ref> On the 35th anniversary of the accident in May 2011, [[Contra Costa County]] [[firefighter]]s dedicated a monument in Yuba City.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gerardo Recinos |url=http://martinezgazette.com/firefighters-pay-homage-to-bus-accident-victims/ |title=Firefighters pay homage to bus accident victims : Martinez News-Gazette |publisher=Martinezgazette.com |date=2013-05-26 |access-date=2013-11-19}}</ref>

In 2015, the I-680 freeway off-ramp was replaced with one having a longer and flatter approach.<ref>{{cite web|author= Laura Anthony |url=http://abc7news.com/traffic/caltrans-replaces-deadly-i-680-off-ramp-in-martinez/735045/ |title=CALTRANS REPLACES DEADLY I-680 OFF-RAMP IN MARTINEZ : ABC & News |publisher=abc7news.com |date=2015-05-21 |access-date=2015-10-06}}</ref>

== References==
{{Reflist}}

{{School bus crashes}}
{{coord|38.0244|N|122.1110|W|source:wikidata|display=title}}

[[Category:1976 road incidents]]
[[Category:1976 in California]]
[[Category:May 1976 in the United States]]
[[Category:1976 disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:Transportation disasters in California]]
[[Category:Bus incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:History of Contra Costa County, California]]

Yuba City bus disaster - Revision history

imported>Don Pollolingangu: /* Investigation */ Fixed grammar