page_title: 1972 Bean Station, Tennessee bus crash
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: 1972 Bean Station, Tennessee bus crash / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: The accident site of a bus-semi truck collision in 1972 in Bean Station, as of 2020
context_page_description: The 1972 Bean Station, Tennessee bus crash was a head-on collision involving a double-decker Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer on U.S. Route 11W in Grainger County, Tennessee, that occurred near the town of Bean Station on the morning of May 13, 1972.
  The accident is considered one of the deadliest and worst traffic collisions in the history of the state of Tennessee. The accident led to outcry from politicians and citizens calling for traffic safety and infrastructure improvements, such as highway widenings, and the completion of Interstate 81 in Tennessee.
context_section_description: Led by the widow of one of the passengers aboard the bus, survivors of the crash and other family members of the victims filed a federal lawsuit against Greyhound for 2.5 million dollars. The jury found Greyhound at fault for failing to take action for the driver of the bus, who had a history of diabetes, heart and liver disease, and several other severe medical conditions.
  Individuals ranging from activists, state and local politicians, engineers, and journalists considered the collision a call to action for the widening of heavily trafficked highways in the state such as U.S. 11W and the completion of then under construction Interstate 81 from Bristol to Dandridge, which paralled the route of 11W.
  Because of the heavy truck traffic on that highway (US-11W), it was just a matter of time until something like this happened.
  — Tennessee Highway Patrol Captain Guy Nicholson
  Governor Winfield Dunn called for action to widen 11W from two to four lanes in its entirety from Kingsport to Knoxville, stating:
  The record of Highway 11W is written in tragedy and demands the action of responsible people including the governor, This I intend to do.
  — Governor Winfield Dunn
  As of the present day, U.S. Route 11W has since been widened to four lanes, except for the nearly 30 mile stretch between Blaine and Bean Station, including where the collision had occurred. It is been suggested that NIMBYism from citizens in Grainger County has played a significant role in the prevention and postponement of the highway construction.
  In 2020, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) had completed the right-of-way acquisition phase of the 11W widening project between Rutledge and Bean Station, expecting to begin construction in 2021-2022.
caption: The accident site on two-lane US-11W, as of 2020
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