Ten people are dead and at least 30 injured following a head-on collision between a FedEx Freight truck and a charter bus that was bringing high school seniors to tour a college campus. Both drivers were killed in the accident along with an admissions officer for the college, two adult chaperones, and five students.
The investigation is ongoing, but it appears that at 5:41 pm on April 10th, the FedEx truck crossed the median on I-5 near Orland and hit the bus head on. The crash engulfed both vehicles in flames, but injured victims were able to escape the bus mostly with only minor burns.
Nine victims were declared dead at the scene and a tenth victim passed away after being airlifted to a local hospital.
Investigators plan to review all information they can recover including a black box-like module in the tour bus to try and reconstruct the accident to see what happened. According to the Los Angeles Times, both drivers had clean driving records. Blood tests will be taken to determine whether either driver was impaired.
Next Story: Highway Shootings: 20 In the Past Month
Source: overdrive, abc, nydailynews, latimes
Image: latimes
Ray says
So sad. My heart and prayers go out to all those involved. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be something like the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
jimmy71 says
Something needs to be done by about FedEx they are one of the most dangerous drivers on the road all of them all of them reckless theY Ride other cars bumpers.it’s unfortunate that this had happened but these FedEx drivers are reckless they in danger the motoring public not just one but all of them I’ve been on the road as a truck driver for 10 years and every time a FedEx truck is in an accident it’s because of one of their stupid move or changing lanes and pushing cars over to the emergency Lanes or left lanes cuz they force the other cars to move over so they can get over cuz they are generally speeding in town and so they have to change lanes abruptly .do you have this company watched anyways they are dangerous to all drivers truckers four wheelers in the walking public
Thebkrchik says
First off. You really need to re-take the English language in general and learn how to communicate on a professional level. Second, all fed ex drivers do not drive the way you claim. You are drawing conclusions about an accident before all of the facts are present. That in itself is childish and immature on all levels. Let’s get all of the details before we pass judgement on the fed ex driver or any other driver for that matter.
Moving Forward says
Well said, Thebkrchik.
jon says
Wow really thats all you got to you must a fedex driver they are the most dangerous drivers next too swift they killed more. People on american Hwys than any other company out there look it up they paid out more law suits for deaths than any motor carrier out there
debbie says
so very true jimmy and ups does same thing
Jeff says
It’s impossible and illogical to lump all FedEx drivers into the “bad drivers” category. To simply assume that this driver was at fault because he was a driver for FedEx is not fair to his family who most likely loved him very much! Doubles are a screwy thing to pull to begin with, what if he blew a steer tire? A steer tire blown at the right time can do exactly what happened here. Would that make him a bad drive; anymore than it would make you or me one? Let’s not pass judgement that isn’t ours to pass.
mike says
FedEx drivers are pushed to the limits by the company itself to get packages and materials to central hubs for distribution. they are monitored tightly and that they can barely take a break at all from what I was told by a driver.
Joseph says
What I’m wondering is what evidence pointed to which vehicle actually swerved into the others lane? Sounds like something that would be nearly impossible to determine at least impossible enough not to give a statement that suggest they know for sure..
Robert says
Joseph, that is the easy part to determine, since I5 is a divided interstate highway and in order for one vehicle or the other to cross into the oncoming lane, it had to cross an actual median and would be in the lanes going in the opposite direction of travel the vehicle was going. We are not talking about a median a few feet wide made of a small concrete island like you see on surface streets, so it is known from the moment they showed up who crossed the median into oncoming traffic.
Doug says
Joeseph there was another vehicle struck by the FedEx truck after it came across the median. They lived and have given statements to the facts. It was a grassy median so not hard to follow the tracks for investigators.
Robert says
Well hell the government will pass a law making all trucks run exactly the same speed so they can’t pass anything but turtles !!!
Robert says
I hope they do not make all trucks go the same speed it is dangerous to go slower then the traffic is moving.
Robert H says
They are already trying to get that passed, at least the ATA is.
moovinmilk says
I’m not sure where making trucks all go the same speed to reduce passing statement came from, but this was a head on involving three vehicles. Two traveling in one direction, and one going the opposite direction. Although they did not mention the Nissan that fedex sideswiped before it went head-on with the bus.
As for fedex being dangerous. I would have to concur that they do have a large majority of really bad drivers, while I see very few being safe and courteous. Speeding, tailgating, and lane control seem to be their biggest problems when I witness then driving.
Jerry says
I’ve seen my share of poor driving by fed ex. Perhaps is more noticeable because of the number of fed ex trucks out there,
That being said, it would be a grossly inaccurate statement to say ALL fed ex drivers or bad or pass judgement in this particular case based on such a perceived notion.
You simply cannot label ALL drivers for any one company as being dangerous without facts supporting such a claim and I seriously doubt there are any facts that support such a conclusion for ANY company period.
I do find cause for alarm that someone as ignorant and illiterate as Jimmy71 would be allowed to get behind the wheel of ANY motor vehicle yet alone a big truck for God sakes. [shakeshead]
I have some real concerns as to his ability to read and comprehend simple road signs for starters.
Road champion says
Fed ex drivers are the worst right there with swift I am with you jimmy on this one
scarygary says
I was in that position my self but the cause of my accident was poison due to bad truck restaurant food that made me black out! So don’t judge this fellow and his ability to drive a big truck!
Jesse says
I’m in agreement that FEDEX drivers are dangerous drivers. I would put them in the top 5 of my personal list. More often than not they are exhibiting risky behavior and most times I would say they are speeding. They are stereotyped for a reason…just as daycab container haulers are. Maybe FEDEX needs to rethink their contractor policies!
rcaircraftnut says
I have been driving commercially for 13 years now. I see a lot of Fed Ex contractors driving VERY stupidly. Speeding, tail gating, no signals, no Bluetooth while on the phone, texting, I could fill a paragraph. Now, please understand I am not racist,or against immigration at all, but most of these contractors seem to be Slavic immigrants who drive like they are still in there homeland. See youtube to see what I mean. I give them a very wide berth.
Joe Bartman says
Driver here for 28 years. I will echo the sentiments regarding the Fed Ex drivers. True, not ALL Fed Ex drivers drive recklessly or carelessly… But 99 percent of them I see, absolutely do. Many truckers do. Fed Ex is just among the worst. Tailgating, swerving in and out of traffic, driving in the hammer lane. Singles and doubles alike. I’ve often wondered how Fed Ex is able avoid having their authority revoked. It’s a sin how horrifying truck drivers operate their rigs these days. I drive in one of the most congested areas in the county… NY tri-state. Yeah, the same NY that fleet drivers refuse to return to once they’ve experienced it.
Ray says
Heh, I’m hoping to never experience it.
Charlie says
Authority is not revoked because of $$$$. Law enforcement just salutes them when they drive by.
Ray says
I hear all this talk about how bad FedEx is, but this doesn’t strike me as an example of bad driving. A bad driver will probably not swerve through the median into oncoming traffic like that. He probably got a heart attack or something.
Curly says
If you notice the FedEx drivers that seem to be the worst are the road trucks pulling the green & blue doubles. Why? Because it is expidited freight. Just get it there asap no matter what it takes, all loads must be on time. I used to run teams pulling some freight for FedEx. I ran into plenty of thier OTR drivers and the first thing I did was get as far away as possible. How many UPS road trucks have you seen? I can only recall a couple and they were pulling a 53′ trailer. Same kind of business just run differently and it shows. Don’t lump all FedEx drivers into one group. Next time you see one pay attention to the colors on the trailer, you will start to see a difference.
Charlie says
I agree. I have known drivers that work(ed) for contractors and they run almost impossible schedules.
randy says
said it once ive said it a hundred times, fedx is ( in my professional opinion ) the most unsafe trucking company in america.
Drivers Advocate says
Dead teen’s mother sues FedEx in California bus crash:
Litigation begins…
And so it has started…
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-california-bus-crash-20140423,0,3985060.story
rifleman says
Why isn’t fedex operating authority suspended as DND was? Here is a example of selective enforcement and corruption.