Reported by: Tom McKeeWeb produced by: Alyssa BunnThe biggest changes ever made in school bus safety are a direct result of the nation's worst drunk driving crash in history.
The accident happened on an isolated stretch of I-71 in Kentucky 20 years ago.
It's come to be known as the Carrollton bus crash, even though the 27 people who died, 34 who were injured and six who weren't hurt were all from Radcliff, Kentucky, an hour South of Louisville.
Now, two decades later, the 1988 tragedy has helped to keep other children safe.
What Happened On May 14, 1988
Sixty-seven members of the First Assembly of God in Radcliff were returning from an outing at Kings Island on May 14, 1988 when the accident happened.
Around 11 p.m., the bus they were riding in was struck by a pickup truck driving the wrong way up I-71 near Carrollton, Kentucky. Police discovered that the driver, Larry Mahoney, was intoxicated at the time.
The tragedy that followed prompted immediate changes in school bus safety.
Describing The Scene
Every time Lee Williams visits the bus crash memorial in Radcliff, his mind wanders to what he lost two decades ago.
Williams' wife, Joy, died in the crash along with his two daughters, 14-year-old Kristen and 10-year-old Robin.
"I had a treasure and that treasure was taken away from me by alcohol," said Williams.
There wasn't much left of the bus once the flames were extinguished.
Investigators said that the interior was gutted when Mahoney's pickup truck hit the bus nearly head-on.
A broken spring punctured the fuel tank and sparks from metal scraping the pavement ignited the gasoline. It was determined that the majority of the victims died of smoke inhalation.
Passersby stopped to see if they could help as children scrambled to get off the bus.
Patrick Thomas Presley described the ghastly scene as he tried to help save the kids. "We got a total of nine kids off the bus before the second tank went off on the bus and there was just too much flames and too much heat," said Presley.
Changes Since The Carrollton Bus Crash
Phil Jones has been the Transportation Director for Boone County Schools for the past 21 years. Jones said that safety changes on buses began immediately after Carrollton Bus Crash.
"There's been a lot of improvements made in that amount of time," said Jones.
The biggest change has been an increase in the number of emergency exits on buses. The most notable is an exit door on the left side.
"Take a situation where you have a fire in the front of the bus and the front door is blocked. Then the front half of the bus can get out this exit while the rear half of the bus can go out the rear exit," explained Jones.
Other safety changes have made an impact as well. The rear exit is wider now and the last row of seats is narrower to allow students to leave the bus more quickly.
Jones said that evacuation drills held on every bus four times a year have helped to reduce the time it takes to get the children off the bus in an emergency. "Thirty seconds. That's the standard. Thirty seconds to a minute," he explained.
There are also now two pop-out windows on each side of the bus that even the smallest student could operate. Reflective tape marks the location of each one of these windows on both the outside and inside of the bus.
Emergency roof hatches have been installed as well. "If the bus were overturned, it would be much easier to reach and get access to it," explained Jones.
Underneath the bus, a steel cage now surrounds the fuel tank to prevent punctures. In addition, most buses now run on diesel fuel, which is less prone to fire than gasoline.
Another change was made to the seat covers themselves. They've been redesigned so they don't burn as easily.
Although most of the changes were to the buses, the drivers were not forgotten. An additional nine hours of training have been added to their requirements.
"Before '88 there was not much to the driver training program but, since, we've practiced defensive driving and all the things to avoid accidents. But, should you get involved in an accident, we do practice the proper evacuation techniques," explained Jones.
Lee Williams has since married the widow of bus driver John Pearman, and became a father to their two daughters and son.
Williams said that all of the additional safety modifications have helped ease the pain of his loss. "I think school bus safety has improved a lot and that is one of the good things that came out of the bus wreck as far as I am concerned," he explained.
But Williams said he always reflects on what investigators concluded was the cause of accident, the alcohol-impaired condition of the truck driver, Larry Mahoney.
"He didn't get up that morning and decide to drink all day and go out that night and hit a bus and kill a bunch of kids," said Williams. "That was never his plan. It was alcohol and he was under the influence of a drug and I think he lives with that every day."
Mahoney's blood alcohol level was 0.26, which was double the legal limit, even one-and-a-half hours after the accident.
He served nearly 11 years of a 17-year sentence and was released from prison in 1999.
Williams and wife, Dottie, say they've forgiven Mahoney. However, Williams still talks to whomever will listen about the dangers of alcohol.
