Pedal Misapplication Contributes to Loading Zone Accident
In January 2007, a Pennsbury School District driver’s bus injured 20 students when it accelerated in a Falls Township, Pa., high school’s loading zone and crashed into a retaining wall.
In its investigation of the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause was pedal misapplication by the driver. Pedal misapplication occurs when a driver depresses the accelerator instead of, or in addition to, the brake pedal.
A report synopsis indicates that the agency also believes that the driver’s unfamiliarity with the bus contributed to the accident. (The bus was a substitute, and the pedals were different from what the driver was used to.)
In response to its investigation of this accident, as well as several others where pedal misapplication was a factor, the NTSB has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require that brake transmission shift interlock devices be installed in heavy vehicles that are susceptible to pedal misapplication. The device requires the driver to apply the brakes in order to shift out of park, thereby preventing unintentional application of the accelerator at vehicle start-up.
In addition to concluding that pedal misapplication was a contributing factor, the Falls Township accident led the agency to conclude that “the nature of bus loading and unloading activities at schools creates a situation where an errant vehicle could easily strike pedestrians” and that a brake transmission shift interlock device would have prevented the accident.
Finally, the NTSB recommended that the National Association
of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services and the National Association for Pupil Transportation advise their members of the dangers of pedal misapplication, and to consider refresher training for drivers and mitigation strategies, such as starting buses only after loading is complete.
