McKay Mary Pat, Poland Kristin, Barth Thomas H
a Office of Research and Engineering, National Transportation Safety Board , Washington , DC .
b Office of Highway Safety, National Transportation Safety Board , Washington , DC .
Traffic Inj Prev. 2018;19(sup2):S162-S164. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2018.1532215.
The objective of this study was to examine the medical conditions of 2 commercial drivers and the effects of physical barriers to occupant egress in a crash involving a tractor trailer and a motorcoach in order to assess and identify the factors that caused the crash and had a significant effect on occupant extrication.
Physical evidence from the scene, video evidence, commercial driver information, phone records, toxicology findings, autopsy results, and personal medical information were reviewed.
On October 23, 2016, at 5:16 a.m., a motorcoach carrying a driver and 42 passengers struck the rear of a stopped semitrailer occupied by its driver in the center-right lane of Interstate 10 at highway speed outside Palm Springs, California. The motorcoach driver and 12 passengers died; 11 passengers were seriously injured. All traffic had been stopped on I-10 early that morning to allow electrical lines to be strung over the highway. Security camera footage showed that the truck arrived at the end of a traffic queue 2 min before traffic flow resumed. Physical evidence indicated that the truck's parking brake was still engaged at the time of the collision about 2 min later. The truck driver had a body mass index (BMI) between 45.6 and 50 kg/m, which placed him at very high risk of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea; he also inaccurately recalled that he had been stopped for 20-25 min and had placed the vehicle in gear just before the collision. The motorcoach driver was on the return leg of an overnight trip to a casino. Based on his phone records, known driving time, and security camera footage, at the time of the collision he had had 4 h of sleep opportunity in the preceding 35 h. There was no evidence that the motorcoach driver attempted any evasive action before the collision. In addition, postmortem testing revealed a hemoglobin A1C of 11.4%, indicating poorly controlled diabetes; this was apparently undiagnosed prior to the crash. The motorcoach was equipped with a single loading door at the front of the vehicle; it was rendered inoperable by the collision. Emergency egress was initially carried out through the emergency exit windows, but they repeatedly swung shut, impeding passengers' efforts to exit. Emergency responders eventually cut open the bus wall to create a larger means of egress. Overall, it took almost 3 h to extricate the occupants from the vehicle.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was the truck driver's falling asleep, most likely due to undiagnosed moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, and the motorcoach driver's failure to identify the stopped truck as a hazard requiring evasive action, most likely as the result of fatigue. Additional easy-to-use emergency exits would have decreased the time to extricate the occupants.
本研究的目的是调查两名商业驾驶员的身体状况，以及在一辆牵引拖车与一辆长途客车相撞事故中乘客出口处物理屏障的影响，以便评估和确定导致事故并对乘客解救产生重大影响的因素。
审查了现场物证、视频证据、商业驾驶员信息、电话记录、毒理学结果、尸检结果和个人医疗信息。
2016年10月23日上午5点16分，一辆载有一名驾驶员和42名乘客的长途客车在加利福尼亚州棕榈泉市外的10号州际公路右中车道以高速撞上一辆停着的由其驾驶员占据的半挂车后部。长途客车驾驶员和12名乘客死亡；11名乘客受重伤。那天清晨，10号州际公路上的所有交通都已停止，以便在公路上架设电线。安全摄像头录像显示，卡车在交通恢复前2分钟到达交通队列末尾。物证表明，大约2分钟后的碰撞发生时，卡车的驻车制动器仍处于接合状态。卡车司机的身体质量指数（BMI）在45.6至50kg/m之间，这使他处于患中度至重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停的极高风险中；他还错误地回忆说，他已经停车20至25分钟，并在碰撞前刚刚挂上档。长途客车驾驶员正在返回赌场的夜间行程中。根据他的电话记录、已知驾驶时间和安全摄像头录像，在碰撞发生时，他在之前的35小时内有4小时的睡眠机会。没有证据表明长途客车驾驶员在碰撞前试图采取任何规避行动。此外，尸检检测显示糖化血红蛋白为11.4%，表明糖尿病控制不佳；这在事故发生前显然未被诊断出来。长途客车在车辆前部配备了一个单一的装载门；碰撞使其无法使用。紧急出口最初是通过紧急出口窗户进行的，但它们反复摆动关闭，阻碍了乘客逃生。急救人员最终切开客车壁以创造更大的逃生通道。总体而言，将乘客从车内解救出来花费了近3个小时。
美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）确定，事故的可能原因是卡车司机睡着了，很可能是由于未被诊断出的中度至重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停，以及长途客车驾驶员未能将停着的卡车识别为需要规避行动危险，很可能是疲劳所致。额外的易于使用的紧急出口本可以减少解救乘客的时间。
