The Grafton bus crash killed 21 people and injured 22 on the
Pacific Highway on the
North Coast of
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
near
Grafton Grafton may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Grafton, New South Wales
Canada
* Grafton, New Brunswick
* Grafton, Nova Scotia
* Grafton, Ontario
England
* Grafton, Cheshire
* Grafton, Herefordshire
*Grafton, North Yorkshire
* Grafton, Oxfordshi ...
. This crash was one of several on the Pacific Highway involving buses during a relatively brief period. At the time, this crash was the worst in Australian road transport history in terms of number of deaths. Less than five months previously, another bus had run off the road, with no fatalities; only two months later, on 22 December 1989, the
Kempsey bus crash involving two buses killed 35 passengers. Finally, in 2020, the area of the crash was upgraded and bypassed as part of the Pacific Highway upgrades.
Incident
At some time between 3:50 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. on Friday, 20 October 1989 a southbound
semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...
carrying a load of tinned pineapple juice veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided with a
Sunliner Express
Sunliner Express was an Australian interstate coach operator.
History
Sunliner Express was formed in 1986 when the Brisbane to Cairns licence of VIP Express was purchased."Sunliner Express - The High Deck Legacy" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' 9/2 ...
bus travelling the other way. The bus was carrying 45 passengers. The impact of the semi-trailer resulted in a penetration of the entire right side of the bus by the trailer, spilling passengers onto the road as well as causing trauma for passengers within the bus interior when it rolled.
The driver of the truck, who was among the dead, was found to have a high concentration of
ephedrine
Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in n ...
in his blood, a stimulant similar in effect to the
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s. The concentration found was 80 times in excess of the normal therapeutic level, even for chronic users. It was subsequently found that the truck driver used ephedrine to stay awake and alert, a then common usage by long distance drivers.
Inquest
The inquest into the Grafton bus crash was conducted by means of two sets of hearings in early 1990. The first hearings established the specific causes of the crash, such as the narrow width of the highway (6 metres) at the site, and the fact both vehicles were travelling above the speed limit.
The second hearings examined matters relevant to road safety in Australia: speed limits on undivided highways;
speed limiters in motor vehicles, particularly in heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses; drivers having multiple licences from different Australian jurisdictions; the transfer of driver and vehicle information among Australian states and territories; the collection, collation, analysis and reporting of road crash statistics; driver fatigue, including drowsiness and obstructive sleep apnoea; the regulation of driving hours for truck and bus drivers; drugged driving; aftermarket fitment of bullbars on motor vehicles; construction standards for buses and bus seats; the use of multi-combination heavy vehicles such as
B-double trucks and
road train
A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover.
History
Ear ...
s; mass and dimension standards for trucks; the use of radar detector devices to avoid police speed enforcement; road safety advertising and education; and general matters associated with road construction and national road transport and road freight policies.
Aftermath
This accident and the Kempsey bus crash eight weeks later were described as "arguably Australia’s most catastrophic examples of high consequence/low probability incidents in the bus industry" in a bus safety discussion document. The response to these incidents was an effort in Australia, and particularly in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, to better regulate the heavy transport industry. This included banning "stay-awake" drugs, limiting uninterrupted driving time and mandating rest periods.
The design standards of long-distance buses and their safety equipment were also reviewed. The bus involved in the accident belonged to
Sunliner Express
Sunliner Express was an Australian interstate coach operator.
History
Sunliner Express was formed in 1986 when the Brisbane to Cairns licence of VIP Express was purchased."Sunliner Express - The High Deck Legacy" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' 9/2 ...
. The coroner’s report cleared the bus of any responsibility for the accident. The bus company was liquidated in 1991 and the owners later founded
Transit Systems in 1995.
The crash also prompted a proposal to upgrade the Pacific Highway to a divided road all the way between
Sydney and
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. The section of the Pacific Highway where the collisions occurred was bypassed in May 2020 by a dual carriageway as part of the Pacific Highway upgrades, and is now named
Big River Way.
There is a
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...
to the travellers involved in the Grafton Bus Disaster located on a now closed-off section of the old Pacific Highway at Cowper.
See also
*
List of disasters in Australia by death toll
This is a list of disasters in Australia by death toll.
100 or more deaths
50 to 99 deaths
20 to 49 deaths
Between 10 and 20
Gallery
Image:Port arthur outside.jpg, The Port Arthur massacre claimed 35 lives in 1996 when Martin Bryant ...
References
External links
Emergency Management Australia summaryCowper (podcast)- ''Grafton Daily Examiner''
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Bus incidents in Australia
Disasters in New South Wales
1989 in Australia
1989 road incidents
Bus transport in New South Wales
Road incidents in Australia
Bus crash
1980s in New South Wales
October 1989 events in Australia
1989 disasters in Australia