April 6 marked the anniversary of the sad event of the crash involving a semi-trailer truck and the Humboldt Bronco hockey team bus at Armley, Saskatchewan, Canada.
According to a news reporter commenting on the accident, “The grief can’t be put into words.”
This is even so till this day (six years after), for the families, friends and the community at large, as everyone remembers the crash victims. Sixteen persons died in this collision.
After the incident, there was an investigation by the authorities and according to available public information, rigorous analysis and testing with accident scene reconstructionists and officers were conducted. We are also informed that over 5,500 photos of the scene were taken using humans, drones and 3D technology to facilitate the analysis.
No doubt, the purpose of these rigorous measures taken in conducting this accident investigation is to provide the true picture of what happened, how it happened and the causes.
One vital aspect that is missing from the available incident investigation reports and thus leading to questions is the issue of the vehicle safety features of the bus those kids were traveling in.
In the field of vehicle accident investigation, there is the need to also look outside the causes of an incident. The reason for this is to determine the “defenses” in place (or not in place) that would have reduced the effects of the incident on the persons and the equipment involved.
Consequently, the questions to ask the investigators are as follows:
Did the bus have passenger seat belts?
If the bus had seat belts, did the kids put on their seat belts?
Did the bus have other post-collision protection devices for the passengers and the vehicle?
It is pertinent to mention here that seat belts are considered a last line of defense (LLOD) for vehicle occupants, in the event of a vehicle collision like the Humboldt Bronco team bus incident.
Would seat belts have saved the lives of some of the victims? Maybe, if they were installed in the bus, if the vehicle occupants had them on and also depending on several other unknown factors relating to the crash incident.
Besides this bus incident, there have been several road collision incidents involving drivers and passengers being killed because they were not wearing their seat belts.
As a safety professional with an interest in road safety, my advice to drivers is to learn from road traffic incidents and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and those of others on the road.
About the author:
I am a health and safety professional with years of experience and a keen passion for road safety. Regarding this, I have developed an online course titled “Defensive Driving for New, Young and Other Drivers - The key to a safe, calm, confident and stress-free driving experience”.
This course contains tools and self-practice techniques to help drivers, especially young drivers, drive and arrive safe always.
You can access the course at: https://healthandsafetyassistant.com/collections/online-courses
Avail yourself of the course and share it with others.