WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued six new recommendations on Wednesday following its investigation report on a 2022 fatal collision between a semi-truck and a bus in Williamsburg, Virginia.
According to the NTSB's preliminary report, on Dec. 16, 2022, around 1:38 a.m., a medium-sized bus owned by Futrell’s Party Adventures was traveling in the far-right lane of I-64 eastbound in York County. The driver and about 23 passengers were inside at the time.
The vehicle was advertised as a “party bus," featuring limousine-style seating allowing passengers to face each other.
At the same time, a semi-truck was also traveling in the eastbound far-right lane on I-64 behind the bus while pulling a semitrailer.
The report said the truck approached the bus at a fast speed, colliding with the rear. The crash destroyed the bus' passenger compartment and ejected several passengers.
Three passengers died from their injuries. Both vehicle operators survived, and the rest of the passengers were treated for various injuries.
Patricia Russell's two sons, Xzavier Evans and Jontae Russell, were killed. She told 13News Now Wednesday, "Some days are better than others. Some days I end up on my bed crying, thinking about them."
Russell and her mother, Patricia Deloatch, say they'll continue to fight for answers and accountability.
Deloatch said, "There’s a lot of back and forth, so I want to find out who did what, and you know that’s it."
Russell added, "When they left, a part of me left with them. I just want justice for my boys."
The crash will continue to be investigated as NTSB works to determine the probable cause. Other groups helping the investigation are the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Virginia State Police, and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
As a result of their investigation, the NTSB determined that the driver of the semi truck's lack of response to the slower‑moving party bus was mainly due to fatigue from excessive driving and lack of opportunities to rest.
According to the report, the truck’s motor carrier, Triton Logistics, created fictitious driver accounts for its vehicles’ electronic logging device systems, allowing its drivers to exceed federal hours-of-service regulations and drive while fatigued.
"What really caught my eye was the intentional disregard," Michael Leizerman told 13News Now about the report. He's a managing partner at The Law Firm for Truck Safety, which is part of the legal team representing a number of victims and families affected by the crash.
Leizerman said the truck company should have to face consequences for its fabricated records. He said, "That is repugnant, and that killed and injured many people. In my opinion, they’ve lost the right to be on the road."
NTSB's report also wrote the truck company opted out of safety features available for the vehicle, like automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control.
"I can't imagine why the manufacturer would allow somebody to opt-out," said Leizerman. "It would be as if you could buy a car and say, 'No, I don't want an airbag, no, I don't want a seatbelt.' That should not be an option."
The investigation also determined that the bus’ slower travel speed also contributed to the severity of the crash, saying the vehicle was traveling only 20-25 mph at the time.
The report says, "The bus carrier lacked appropriate safety management practices, as demonstrated by the poor maintenance and improper registration of the bus and use of an improperly licensed driver."
These are the six new recommendations from the NTSB as a result of the investigation:
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should strengthen electronic logging device requirements to prevent opportunities for the creation of fake driver accounts.
- The Commonwealth of Virginia should offer management safety guidance to new intrastate motor carrier licensees covering license class, drug and alcohol testing, fatigue management, vehicle maintenance, and safe commercial vehicle operation.
- Triton Logistics should implement a process to regularly verify the accuracy of drivers’ records of duty, implement a robust fatigue management program, and proactively use onboard inward- and forward-facing video event recording to improve driver training.
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should provide guidance to motor carriers on the use of onboard video recordings to ensure driver compliance with regulations and safe operations.
The NTSB has also reiterated three previous recommendations:
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should complete the development and application of performance standards for the assessment of forward collision avoidance systems in commercial vehicles. NHTSA should also require that all buses and trucks over 10,000 pounds be equipped with onboard video recorders that record parametric data associated with an event.
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should provide guidance to motor carriers on the use of onboard video recordings to ensure driver compliance with regulations and safe operations.