We need to get these semis off the highways and move everything by rail. Write Congress. Way too many semis crowding the highways and they are very very dangerous.

trains get derailed all the time much too dangerous. i think we should use hot air balloons instead.

Many school bus drivers are under-qualified, some are elderly with compromised reaction times too, and the notion that trains can haul every human consumer product only works in highly-centralized, high population-density urban areas, which are connected by rail to huge centralized factories, giant centralized warehouses, and even to centralized farm production and to raw materials mines too. Moreover, how will we grow enough food and transport it all by rail? This isn't the 1940s any longer, we are way past that point now.

I'll never forget when a school bus driver hauling a full load of high school-age kids ran a stop sign and pulled right out onto a 55-mph 2-lane major truck route near Ravenna, OH, (Ohio State Route 5), then flipped-on the red lights, and almost got rear-ended by 3 semis that were traveling at the speed limit, who had been driving with no vehicle ahead for a half-mile. His excuse for putting one truck into the ditch, and flat-spotting 54 semi tires, with the 2nd truck ending-up alongside him into a near head-on with opposing stopped traffic? He said that the trees weren't trimmed well-enough for him to see what was coming (traffic that had the right-of-way), so his small brain said that he had a better chance running that stop sign at as fast a speed as he could make the corner at!

It was lucky that all of the involved semi drivers were highly-experienced drivers, and it was lucky that none of the opposing traffic, which had a much-better and longer distance view, decided to run the bus stop signals, or there would have been some dead truck drivers and some dead kids that day in 1989 too. Just as long as school bus drivers are trained well-enough to be firmly aware of the safe stopping distances of loaded semis, which can be 3-4 times as long as a car depending on the cargo, all of us, including our kids riding on school buses, will be a whole lot less-likely to be injured or killed in an accident involving a school bus and/or a semi.

My own feeling says that there would be a lot of better places to drop school kids than having to block high-speed rural 2-lane highways to do so, and that a simple gravel pull-off wide-enough to handle a school bus would make loading or unloading school kids on high-speed rural 2-lane truck routes a whole lot safer, which very well might save some precious lives too.

The video makes it look like the school bus got t-boned by the semi too. Somebody run a stop sign, or fail to look both ways before heading into an intersection? Maybe the semi was too heavily loaded to stop in the space of a 5-second yellow light, an all-too-common occurrence, and the school bus driver erred by assuming that a green light meant that it was safe to proceed without checking as to whether that approaching semi was capable of stopping? Believe me, even if you have a green light, if you are a commercial driver, it is your own responsibility to ensure that cross traffic can stop regardless of the color of the signal.

well said Ol Timer

The area that this accident occurred was in a rural and hilly area south of Hastings, and happened at the top of a blind hill on gravel. There was no chance for either driver to avoid one another. The bus driver had just let a farm tractor by, just didn't have a chance to see the semi approaching over the hill.

Yea, well that's all fine and dandy IF the the new semi driving generation was as respectful of others as the old driver generation.
20 years ago, a semi driver would do all they could to help others. The newbies on the road try too hard to kill or mame other drivers. It's been said many times (not by me), that the drivers want the highway to be THEIR office and nobody allowed on it. That's BS! I pay road taxes so I can use those roads too, as does everyone on them!
Someone needs to teach these boys with big toys that those rigs are DEADLY! Too many times I was on a highway with one that had an attitude. (I spent 17 years of my life on the highway as a sales/rep.). More than I care to count, I've had drivers try to run me off the road by swinging their trailer at me. Oh please give me the your in their way carp! Because I was in the RIGHT HAND LANE, do OVER the speed limit....which by the way is supposed to be the FASTEST you are allowed to go. They complain they can't stop on a dime. I guess not! They drive 100 on a 65 mph highway, run up your butt to harass you and then gripe about the drivers they don't want to "deal with". I'd even lay a bet that a whole lotta one-vehicle fatal accidents that happen late at night or early morning, REALLY had a semi involved.

Ok, granted, there are a lot of CAR DRIVERS acting like heathens, as well. I watch them run stop signs because they just don't want to stop. Red lights that already TURNED red...not on a yellow. They don't yield to oncoming traffic from a side road and give YOU the finger because you're in their way....and they will gun you down if you dare to pass another vehicle while they are a mile behind you. They pass you to jet in front of you, just so they can turn at the next road, even if nobody is within miles of you. They simply will not get behind you when it's too easy to cut you off an make you stop for THEM.

But that is NO reason for 18 wheelers to get in the act of being stupid! EVERY driver isn't a bad driver and believe me, I've said what Marilee said a LOT of times when I had to deal with truckers. Put that carp back on the railway and get those pea brain idiots off the roads. They are killing too many innocent people just to show they can!
It NEEDS to work for the safety of people. The road is NO PLACE for tanker toys run by immature little boys that can't even keep them in their lanes!

@Conway Twitter: my spouse is a trucker of many years. He has received many, many awards for safe driving. He has also logged about 1.5 million miles to date.

He will tell you there are nuts all over the place, behind the wheels of semis and behind the wheels of 4-wheelers. Some truck drivers are speed demons, just like some 4-wheelers are. Sort of a "bad apple in every barrel" situation. No perfect drivers in either group. He has had other truckers almost cut him off, cuss at him and threaten him on the CB. He's had 4-wheelers pass him, then cram on their brakes, expecting an 80,000 pound, fully loaded rig to stop on that proverbial dime. Can't be done.

I think if everyone were just a little bit more careful, more responsible, and more concerned about others, and they showed that on our highways, we'd all be safer and get the places we need to without incident. My spouse doesn't speed, by the way. Speeding will net you a ticket, and about three of those will get you out of the rig.

Man, I sure will be glad when my better half retires and leaves the stress of having to deal with nutjobs on our nation's highways behind him!

Forloff: Please read my post again.
I didn't point a finger at anyone in particular. I generalized my statements, AND I also included people in CARS.

Let's give a gold star to your husband today, he's one of the good ones I posted about. Congratulations Mr. Forloff. You're my hero!

I drove semis for 30 years and for 3 million miles, with only 2 very minor accidents with no injuries being my own fault. both of which happened as my eyesight and depth-perception began to decline. On the other hand, in the 45 years since I started driving a car, I have been rear-ended 10 times, including 3 times driving a semi, and I have been side-swiped 6 times also, including 4 times in a semi, with 3 of those 4 times caused when car drivers (one time a 6-wheel truck) attempted to pass on my my right in a marked 5-foot wide bicycle lane. Twice I have had a car end-up under my trailer, once because the guy was so drunk that he couldn't keep it in his own lane, and the other time when someone was approaching stopped traffic at too high a speed. I have also been involved in three different accidents because a car driver was enraged that I also occupied his portion of the highway, which in all 3 cases ended with the car driver arrested and me back on my way.

If Dustin Johannes is correct, and this accident occurred at a rural intersection at the top of a hill where sight distance is compromised, then the State or County highway department is partially responsible for maintaining an unsafe intersection, and if either driver approached the top of a blind hill at a speed higher than they could stop at, then they too bear some of the blame. Even on the freeway, you are taking a chance driving over the top of a blind hilltop if you can't see what is over that hilltop. It sounds like the youthful semi driver might very well have run right over the farm tractor if the school bus hadn't gotten in the way first. Was there a stop sign involved? Did the bus have the stop sign? Or was this an uncontrolled rural intersection with vague right-of-way responsibilities? You can't come flying over the top of a hill on a road that you don't know well, lest there is a major change or delay on the other side, and with a blind hilltop intersection included, youthful inexperience and possible unfamiliarity, combined with unsafe roadway design, (again I have no idea about signage there) sound like the most-responsible culprit here.

We don't need to pull semis off the road. We need to deconsolidate the huge school districts of the last 50 years and return to smaller, locally controlled schools with in walking distance of homes or at least shorter drives with fewer kids on board smaller vehicles. No more monster buses. Smaller schools with better student to teacher ratios, more emphasis on academics rather than athletics, closer ties to the community would change the peer pressure in schools. That focus would make schools less fertile grounds for drugs, gangs, and other terrible things. Not only that but taxpayers would see transportation costs cut, insurance costs cut and would have much more say in where their money went.

Yeah, I'm sure that's what the comment meant. Grow up.

@DEbchbum - Troll urself over to another story.. Particularly one where staunch critical sarcasm is welcomed.. On a story like this your comment just shows you missed the sincerity in her comment.. jerk!

Prayers to the families of ALL involved that they find solice in this trying time.. God Bless.

The accident happened before 5 PM. It was probabl;y the late bus - the one that brings the activities children home at the end of the day.

This is in a very rural area of NE, I live in Omaha NE and I have no idea where this town even is. I do know, however, that this accident occurred on a dirt road, which leads me to believe that it's in farm country Western NE where the schools just aren't that close to the homes to begin with.

This is hardly Western NE. I don't even live in your state, and I know Blue Hill is between Hastings and Lincoln. You might run a quick google search before speculating.

haileyi.....I live in Central Nebraska fairly close to Blue Hill and unless you live in Omaha, Lincoln, or a select few other larger cities you are in farm country. Google search might have placed it on a map for you but didn't tell you much else. As the news has been stating, Blue Hill is South of Hastings.

OK more buses and shorter routes. Sounds great. Could make it easier on kids and their families. Could add some more jobs. Could make for more sales of buses and the maintenance for them.

Where is the money coming from? Where are the drivers coming from? How are the bus drivers going to survive on less income? Where will the buses be parked at night and be secured? And for the Tree Huggers out there how do we take care of the additional carbon foot print?

NovaSquid....I can't say that I'm shocked to see you're from Omaha and have never heard of Blue Hill, after all, not much exists once you get past the 395...As Seriously Shocked stated, Blue Hill is in south central NE, roughly between Hastings and the KS state line.

Yesterday was one of the roughest days we've had to endure and it has truly shaken our tiny community to the core. It was a tragic accident, yes, one caused by human error/mistake, but pointing fingers and laying blame isn't going to help any of those affected. At the end of the day four lives were still lost, families and friends are grieving, and we'll never know the answer to that inevitable question, "Why?"

As for the whole seatbelt debate, it's six one way, half a dozen the other. In this case, had these kids been seatbelted and unable to get out of their restraints, how many more would've perished? If the entire bus had gone up in flames and a child was unconscious, how would you expect him/her to escape? On the other hand, in the event of a rollover, yes, a seatbelt (when working properly) would keep the child from being thrown around in the bus or ejected.

For the time being we need to quit worrying about who's to blame and focus on not only those who were lost, but also those who survived and the families of all involved. It'll be tough to overcome and a long road to recovery, but it's incidents like this that make tight knit communities even stronger.

As for the whole seatbelt debate, it's six one way, half a dozen the other.

No it isn't. It's one of the most obvious and easily fixable safety neglects we have in the US.

In this case, had these kids been seatbelted and unable to get out of their restraints, how many more would've perished? If the entire bus had gone up in flames and a child was unconscious, how would you expect him/her to escape?

Seriously? Re-read what you just wrote. An unconscious person can't escape, they're UNCONSCIOUS. If someone has the physical ability to move an unconscious vicim out of a bus, they certainly should also be able to hit the release mechanism of a seat belt.

On the other hand, in the event of a rollover, yes, a seatbelt (when working properly) would keep the child from being thrown around in the bus or ejected.

How about in the event of any accident like this, high speed head-on. Do you realize what likely happened in that bus compartment? On the moment of impact (and in this case I'm certain that tractor trailer weighed CONSIDERABLY more then the bus with its load of hay) the bus would come to an almost instantaneous stop, or even if on off-center the bus would still redirect all forward momentum and careen off in a perpendicular direction (think of the point of impact as a fulcrum whereas the back side would swing around to the side). Unfortunately without seatbelts the passengers inside the bus would still continue moving forward at the speed they were traveling (likely 35-45 mph) until they would smash into an object (likely the seat in front of them). When they do smash into that object the amount of force would hit with the force of a couple to several g's (this really depends on how instantaneous that stop is). Now if they don't hit that seat in front of them squarely enough relative to their direction of travel they too will careen off that seat, continuing forward and smashing into/thru any objects they contact until they crash into the front windshield of the bus. There's a good PSA video out there called Rear Passenger Seatbelt, while not matching the circumstances, it does give you a good visualization of what happens to unbuckled passengers in a car accident.

Ok, I was wrong on my initial post about it being a head-on collision since I hadn't seen the Lincoln article that actually had the details of how the accident accured. I still highly suggest viewing the PSA video I mentioned. Rear Passenger Seabelt

Wear a seat belt, donate blood, easiest ways to save a life.

HEY Marilee, Are you STUPID as you sound? I bet your local Walmart or dollar general or grocery store has a rr siding next to it.I*f not products have to be brought to your store that takes TRUCKS, or do you want to go to your nearest RR station find the boxcar that might have your groceries in it .I'm sure you don't mind wait5ing 2 weeks foryour freshly picked produce or meat to be delivered.

Use some sense lady,everything you eat,wear drive,or live in was brought by a TRUCK!!!

Yes, she is THAT stupid.

Why can't you people just accept the fact that accidents happen?

This is NOT a TV Show! Being that it just happend you'll have to wait for details. I understand by then you'll have forgottent all about this tragedy and be on to the next, but that's life.

Accidents don't just happen. Mistakes are made by people that lead to collisions. A driver was at fault (we don't know whom because of the incomplete story) by driver error or mechanical failure, which is still the responsibility of the driver to control your vehicle. The driver of the bus, another asked, obviously had training, as the first thing they look for when hiring a driver is if your CDL is current.

which is why people shouldn't be second guessing; including myself.

I do realize your frustrations of lack of story as I feel the same way when reading a tragic story from out of state. However, I live in Nebraska and not too far from Blue Hill therefore I understand what it is like to travel on country roads (gravel) so close to Harvest. I'm not going to speculate as to what happened but can tell you on a gravel road this close to harvest it doesn't take much.

School bus drivers receive a lot of training. You are far safer in a school bus than in almost any other vehicle configuration. I drove a school bus for a time, and training was essentially non-stop. I don't know all the circumstances of this accident, but from comments, it sounds like a dirt/gravel road. Mere speculation - hay truck maybe going too fast - that 21 year old truck driver has received less training than that 57 year old bus driver. Semi on gravel - not a quick stopper. Smaller vehicles slide under the bus passenger compartment, which is deliberately built high for that very reason. For those of you questioning seat belts on buses, find a safety video about school buses. It will show you why they are not installed.

Ryan because accidents don't just happen. Someone made a mistake and mistakes are there for people to learn from. Both of the drivers are dead and if one made a simple mistake they can be forgiven in time. The only thing people would be really angry about were if one or the other was high on drugs or alcohol.

While I have also been a supporter of seatbelts in school buses, a driver on another forum made a very valid point last night: The school bus driver is responsible for those children on the bus. If an accident were to happen s/he would have to go seat-by-seat to unbuckle those kids if something happened with the latch, hence delaying their getting off the bus. In this case the bus went up in flames and the driver was killed. Who would've been able to get those kids out if they'd been strapped in? Not that the tragedy our small community has sufferred wasn't bad enough, but it could've been much, much worse had those kids been trapped in the bus because of seatbelts.

The bus caught fire. I'm sure seatbelts would have trapped more kids.

Well of course the seat belts would have trapped the kids. Seat belts aren't made to unbuckle. They were much safer being thrown about the bus. Can we get a common sense check on Isle 3?

Was this a gasoline powered bus?

I ask because it caught on fire - Kentucky (obviously a different state than Nebraska) had an accident in 1988 (Look up the "Carrollton bus crash") that killed 27 people on a gasoline powered school bus after the fuel tank caught fire following a head on collision with a drunk driver in a pickup truck, so they required that all future buses purchased for the state be equipped with diesel powered engines as diesel fuel is harder to ignite than gasoline. They also require 9 emergency exits on their buses (3 doors, 4 windows, 2 roof hatches), but that doesn't appear to have been a problem in this accident. Most other states didn't follow Kentucky's practice as a turbocharged diesel engine equipped school bus is considerably more expensive than a gasoline powered bus.

I agree NanMae. Seatbelts may or may not have been a factor here lynseypug, but regardless, we let our children ride around in these busses w/ no seatbelts. We constantly hear on tv "click it or ticket"...etc. What message are we sending when we're so concerned about adult drivers, but totally disregard 30, 40 kids in a school bus rambling down a highway. Accidents DO happen, but evidently it's too costly to protect our kids w/ seatbelts. I have a 14 and 10 year old, and think about this everytime I see a school bus on any highway or interstate.

Eric-1217098.....The semi caught fire causing the bus to catch fire. The driver of the Semi was killed along with the bus driver leaving the children alone to my understanding. Not sure how much training the kids had on all the exits prior to the accident. My heart breaks every time I think of them. :(

Fine. I've read this before but I'll repost it here.

According to the NHTSA: Large school buses are heavier and distribute crash forces differently than do passenger cars and light trucks. Because of these differences, the crash forces experienced by occupants of buses are much less than that experienced by occupants of passenger cars, light trucks or vans. NHTSA decided that the best way to provide crash protection to passengers of large school buses is through a concept called “compartmentalization.” This requires that the interior of large buses provide occupant protection such that children are protected without the need to buckle-up. Through compartmentalization, occupant crash protection is provided by a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely-spaced seats that have energy-absorbing seat backs.

As for my assertion that a seatbelt might have caused more harm than good in a fiery crash, you're a panicked 8-year-old buckled in and trying to get off a burning bus. I have enough trouble unbuckling the darn things when I'm not screaming and crying my lungs out, in shock, etc. If the buses are truly designed to protect the kids without seatbelts (which make darn good weapons for bored children to hit each other with), then in this particular case that might have been a good thing.

If this was a smaller bus, then it is required by law to have seat belts.

Small school buses (with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less) must be equipped with lap and/or lap/shoulder belts at all designated seating positions. Since the sizes and weights of small school buses are closer to those of passenger cars and trucks, seat belts in those vehicles are necessary to provide occupant protection.

Here's a link to Lincoln Journal Star's article:

It provides more information. Such a terrible tragedy!

Ah, it wouldn't allow the link. It's the main article on journalstar.com

I live in the area, it was an unmarked intersection.

http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/four-killed-in-crash-between-school-bus-semi/article_cd13ee16-d88c-58dc-93d2-8ddb881d8127.html

Here is the link to the Lincoln newspaper's story. Read the story for what details there are.

Geez Bob-428..wait...8675309...anyway...would you prefer time be referenced to some podunk town full of mouth-breathers in Nebraska? Perhaps because the only time people have to think about the start time of something across time zones is when there is a sporting event or TV show (radio shows back in the day), etc. The media which broadcast those sporting events, radio/TV shows were primarily based in New York. Therefore, it made sense to them to tell everyone when THEY would begin broadcasting in THEIR time zone, and it stuck. Besides, let's face it - approximately 47% of the US population lives in the Eastern Time Zone. Until there is a massive migration westward (another one), don't expect the New Yorkers, Philadelphians, Washingtonians, Bostonians, Atlantans, etc. to give up their primacy. Cheers!

Really you dumazzes.

FNCKING sun rises in the east sets in the west.

and if you go by the global stantard its GMT which we are either 4 or 5 hours behind.

i bet the people in hawaii are saying why is it always PST.

Hey, jizzstain Bob...the day STARTS in the EAST -- something about the sun rising in the EAST and setting in the WEST...don't like it? MOVE.

hahahahaha was wondering when someone was going to say that! :)

Well I did. I would like to rip your spine out through your throat.

If you need help with that Brad...I am volunteering.

Because it doesn't say what happened - it just says there was a collision. Was it head on? Was it at an uncontrolled intersection? Was it caused by mechanical failure? Driver fatigue? Driver distraction? Blind intersection? The question should be what happened, and how can we prevent it from happening again. Any bus - whether it's a school bus, charter bus, or motor coach - transports enough people for it to be worth knowing what happened.

why should it matter who was at fault. The important fact is that 4 people died and others are in the hospital. It is a tragedy.

Those of you that keep saying that they want more information, really need a life. You obviously have no connection to anyone involved. Having that information will do nothing to effect you. You can't even say why you want it besides you think you should have it.

When someone in my family gets in a car wreck or some other incident my only concern is, is everyone OK. I don't care about the car or anything else until later. You know if everyone is OK or not. Nothing else should matter.

If you didn't have the ability to find this on the Internet you wouldn't have known about it and you wouldn't care. Read your local paper sometime. It will give you information on what you really need to know.

Trolls won't go away if you keep replying to them. They get off on that and that's why they keep doing it.