BREAKING: School Bus Crash on Chamberlain Road
We will have more information as it becomes available.
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Bus accident scene on Chamberlain Road at approximately 3:50 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2012
Photos (15)
Photos
We have been told that a school bus has crashed on Chamberlain Road. We are heading to the scene, and will provide more information as it becomes available.
UPDATE 4:28 p.m. - The bus was towed from a location near the intersection of Chamberlain and Buckboard just before 4 p.m. on a flatbed owned by Ferreira Automotive.
No children were seen on board, no damage was visible from the driver's side of the vehicle. A pungent egg-like odor was in the area.
We will provide further updates as they become available in future Police Logs and Fire Department Logs.
CORRECTION: The vehicle was towed by Ferreira's Towing of Chelmsford, not Ferreira's in Westford.
jmcgruff
4:04 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I heard the bus was rear-ended... after it made 7 stops in a 1/2 mile distance...too many buses, too many stops...Only in Westford! Go Grey Ghosts!
KarenL
5:13 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Wow, talk about an inappropriate comment. It was Ok for someone to smash into the back end of a bus because they thought it was making too many stops? I believe you are engaging in some hyperbole as well, I've driven the length of Chamberlain behind a school bus many times and didn't find the stopping unreasonable. That's a very dangerous road to walk on (or drive on!). Lots of blind curves and too much speed. I was almost hit head on someone driving on the wrong side of the road around a curve last week.
The solution to frustration of driving behind a school bus is to leave a little extra time, not a big deal for those without a massive sense of entitlement.
Vincent DiRico
6:29 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
this crime dog character has a history of inappropriate comments, the captains of this ship really should get a collar on him.
Tanya Carlyle
6:55 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The bus was NOT rear ended. My son, Justin, was on the bus.
Vincent DiRico
7:34 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
shoot first aim later much?
please remove this comment
Andrew Sylvia
8:24 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Joseph,
"Offensive" comments are not allowed under the terms of service.
I intensely dislike removing anyone's comments, so I want to give you a warning here due to this comment and your comment on the football game.
Criticism is fine, but please make your criticism as respectful as possible.
Thanks.
Cathy Stewart
4:37 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
NECN shows a video of the kids getting off the bus & boarding another bus, reporting no injuries.
Justin
5:20 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Hi I'm Justin I'm a kid here that was Accualy on the bus crash when it happened I took pictures on what happened so if anyone woul like to see them I'll be happy to post them
Justin
5:21 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I can not seem to find the way to post please help.
Andrew Sylvia
5:33 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Hi Justin, all you need to do is press the "Upload Photos and Videos" button. next to the photos here on the article.
Jim Silva
5:39 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Whoa! That was right near my house.
Justin
5:58 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I have put up new photos of the bus. That was me taking them with my iPod Touch so it might have bad quality sorry.
Vicky Geary
6:07 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Justin, Thank you for sharing your pictures. The quality is just fine. Glad you and your friends are okay.
Andrew Sylvia
9:15 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Thanks Justin!
Craig D.
6:54 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I agree with KarenL - It was young students on a road that has blind curves, no sidewalks and cars that typically drive well beyond the speed limit. The bus makes the appropriate number of stops that is proportionate to the risk. Thankfully, everyone was safe. There have several accidents on the street due to speed and visibility. Recently, truck traffic associated with a construction project has been above the posted limit.
KarenL
7:27 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Nice pictures, Justin. Man on the scene! So glad you and your friends weren't hurt.
Justin
9:38 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Thanks I'll tell my bus you said so :)
Rachel Amato
9:59 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
FYI-the bus was not rear ended. An off duty police officer was on his way to work on the slippery road in the rain. He put his brakes on around the curve and the truck swerved with the back of the truck hitting the front right of the bus and denting the front bumper into the tire.
Rachel Amato
10:01 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I posted a few pictures to help
Andrew Sylvia
12:57 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Thanks Rachel!
Justin
7:37 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Yeah thats what really happened I flipped off my seat!
jmcgruff
10:09 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
This is a public forum correct? Is my opinion about buses and HS school sports now offensive? Good golly miss molly! I am not commenting on gender, race, sexuality or even name calling (which I have seen others do)...I am giving my opinions on current events in Westford..if you disagree fine, but offensive pa-lease!? I thought I could comment freely here on the patch? Now let's all go down to the PRIVATE East Boston camps and sing Kumbaya. Only in Westford!
Andrew Sylvia
10:21 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Joseph, you have to follow the terms of service like everybody else. I try my best to allow as many opinions as possible and stretch out the terms as much as possible, but I have my limits.
And just a warning, this goes for everybody, not just Joseph. All the signs at ballfields in town say that Westford's a peaceable community and I hope Westford Patch can be a peaceable online community.
Vicky Geary
11:59 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Joseph, you are absolutely right - this is a public forum but with rules for service. It should be an exchange of ideas and opinions. That said, we should all exercise some common sense. The ability to post comments is a great thing but unfortunately, the anonymity of this medium can lead to rude comments or a misinterpretation of comments. What someone may perceive as flip or funny may actually come off as rude or offensive. Tone is difficult to project in these types of forums. And when people hide behind fake names, it makes it even easier to be rude and disrespectful of others.
Speaking for myself, what was offensive about your initial comment was rather than focusing on the issue of the accident itself or whether there were any injuries, you took the opportunity to make a tasteless joke in furtherance of your agenda that there are too many buses stops. We get it. That is your viewpoint but that comment in this article does nothing to further the exchange of information regarding the accident itself.
jmcgruff
10:13 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
And I am thankful there were no injuires in the bus crash. That said, Justin mentions 'flipping out of his seat', are there still no seatbelts on buses? I think there should be in every seat, hopefully this is not offensive to anyone...
jmcgruff
12:13 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Great points Vickey. I however do not think it offensive to question why things happen. So when an accident is reported, people either say 'what happened' or 'is everyone okay'? Just because one is asked before the other does not mean someone doesn't care but furthermore, to me, makes it far from offensive. You know what I think is offensive? That there are no dam seatbelts on school buses!? I gotta pay for my kid to ride in a big yellow taboggan!? Who is okay with this...not me! I am glad the kids weren't hurt, and I hope it never happens again..and I know they would be safer with seatbelts too, dontchathink? 'I flipped off my seat'
Vicky Geary
12:24 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I am for seatbelts on buses too. After all, we make them buckle up in other vehicles. That said, I once read or heard (don't remember which) the rationale for not implementing seat belts. The theory was/is that if there is a serious accident and the bus needed to be evacuated immediately, it would be challenging to get all those seat belts unbuckled midst a sea of potentially panicky children, particularly the younger set. Not I am not necessarily agreeing with that sentiment but I do find it a logical viewpoint.
jmcgruff
2:46 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I think I have heard such theories myself. I have also heard of some buses having seatbelts in the forn half of the bus and not the back half, how does this make sense? I for one would like to see seatbelts in every seat of a school bus, panicked kids or not...how many times have you seen the bus videos where the poeple/kids go flying up and down and across the bus like ragdolls during a situation...I wonder if Justin (or his parents) think seatbelts are a good idea on all school buses?
Bobs wife
10:17 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Let me try to explain something to you about seat belts on buses. The buses only have ONE seat belt cutter. Heaven forbid the bus tips over or catches on fire, who is going to help the driver cut all those belts off of the students who cannot get out of their seat belts. I would rather have a child with a broken arm than have no child at all.
Vincent DiRico
10:35 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I have to say that argument makes sense 100%.
But in this day of high tech, ... why wouldn't each seat have a seat belt and automatic release/cut/??? (say after the time an air bag is inflated; or some other safe period after hits/rolls are complete, or ...)? Just a thought.
Now that I think about it more it seems to me that cars/vans/SUVs are more and more high tech every year and school buses seem to be the same old low tech seats without belts, ... I am not an expert.
Alex Finnegan
8:30 pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012
Vincent,
You are the Patch Beacon of fiscal pullback yet I wonder where your sense of fiscal conservatism has gone here.
Do you know what it would cost to do that to each seat on the bus?
Do you know how many buses this would need to be done too?
Do you know what this would do to the bus contract costs?
Buses are already designed to be safe w/o safety restraints. How many children have you heard of being seriously injured in these slow moving, frequently stopping buses with padded seats and angled backs to prevent the children from being launched forward. Restraints do more harm than good as children hit each other with them and it can also impede a speedy exit in case of an emergency.
Someone rear ends a bus (or not) no children that I've heard of were injured. Let's not freak out here people. Accidents happen, it's human nature.
As for the videos where kids go flying in the air, it is usually accentuated by the kids jumping a bit, and bus driver going over a bump too fast, not a collision.
Vincent DiRico
12:29 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
-> Yes I do know what it would cost, peanuts in the grand scheme of things (using old technology)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/feds-reject-request-to-require-seat-belts-on-school-buses/2011/08/25/gIQATJhseJ_story.html
NHTSA estimated equipping each bench-style set would cost between $375 and $600, a total of between $5,485 and $7,346 for each large bus.
-> Is it really needed? I am not an expert, the Fed Gov claims it is not needed:
The agency said that large school buses are among the safest modes of transportation, with a fatality rate six times lower that passenger cars. It said that, on average, 19 schoolchildren die each year in bus-related accidents, five of them while aboard buses and 14 in bus loading zones.
NHTSA said that typically those who die in a bus are killed by impact with another vehicle or object and that “in such circumstances seat belts will not be effective in preventing the fatality.”
-> BUT if you really got my points you would not be asking these questions.
Sam
1:49 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
Now we parents would be asked to pay $1000 per kid for bus fees. No thanks!
Alex Finnegan
8:33 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
You said airbags & seat belts. I was confused by the wording. Seatbelts on buses cause more injuries & death, that's why they use compartmentalization. High back, padded, backward slanting seats. A safety "bubble" around kids. In a crash, the child may be thrown around the compartment but the design of the compartment absorbs the crash forces & protects the child very well. It works because of the sheer mass of a school bus.
Yearly of the 25-30 million kids who ride the bus there are about 6 fatalities. 8-14 or so are killed by people ignoring the stop/crossing signal. Idiot drivers kill @ 3 times as many kids as the bus designs do. So the buses fatality record is .000024% I feel for the parents of those 6 kids, but how much better do you think you are going to do.
http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/20/how-safe-are-school-buses/
http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/821858/seat-belts-on-school-buses-not-cost-effective
Prices: I thought you were talking airbags & seat belts. But seat belts, as well as doing more harm than good are quite a bit of money. This is MA, I'm betting closer to $8k+ per but lets use an average of $6415 of the figures you found. W has 34 buses x $6415 = $218,110, which will be marked up & increase all future contracts to fix a problem that affects .000024% of kids. You would be hard pressed to find anything that bests a .000024% failure rate.
http://www.westfordk12.us/pages/transportation/routes/index
jmcgruff
2:28 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
So seatbelts do more harm than good but they are madatory of all car manufacturers and of most drivers in the states? Seems odd...maybe more odd than a bus 'crash' making the news.
Alex Finnegan
12:35 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012
How does it seem odd? Do you not see a fundamental difference in the curb weight, seat design not to mention glass involved in the construction. The only good they would do and it's a trade off with how much bad they would do is keep kid from beng out of their seats, because that is when they will get hurt.