2006 Huntsville bus crash


The Huntsville bus crash involved a school bus carrying 40 students from Lee High School to the Huntsville Center for Technology and occurred on November 20, 2006, on an elevated portion of Interstate 565 in Huntsville, Alabama.

Incident

Police stated that the bus went over the side of the road after a car driven by another Lee High student tried to swerve around the bus, causing the bus driver to swerve going over the edge of the elevated roadway. The driver was ejected from the bus before it went over the side of the bridge, as he was not wearing a seat belt. The bus hit the 32-inch-high cement bridge rail and rode the top of the rail for 117 feet before it plunged over the side.
Four students were killed and 23 were injured after the bus plunged almost. Of the four, all were female students who ranged in age from 16 to 19 years-old.

Aftermath

The crash was extensively covered by CNN and USA Today. A photograph of James "Rusty" Edward Moore Jr. sitting next to his girlfriend who was covered by a blanket went viral, as many thought Moore Jr was sitting next to a dead body. The girlfriend however was just resting and cold.
The crash reignited debate over the installation of seat belts in buses, and whether Alabama should follow the lead of states such as Florida in legislating compulsory lap belts. Following the crash Alabama Governor Bob Riley ordered a report be made into the issue. A study group consisting of education and transport officials interviewed 17 expert witnesses, and in early 2007 released recommendations that a pilot program be run with lap and shoulder belts being installed in a limited number of new buses from 2008.
A similar accident occurred on November 21, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a school bus driver lost control of a bus, causing it to roll over on its side and crash into a tree, killing six students and injuring 23.