The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-11-13

being inspected by officials shortl
there are two tires on each side
and In front only one ON each
side. All Of the tires on the bus
at the time Of the accident were
intact at the time the bus was
dismantled except the right front
tire. which had received In the
accident q bruise to the carcass Of
the tire so severe that a large
blister was blown up on the side
wall on the inside Of the tire SO
that the tire could not be used
again. All Of the rest Of the tires
were mounted again on bus Of
identically the same type and an
other tire similar to the one
which could not be used was put
OH the right front Of this other
bus, and that bus was tested at
the same place under varying
speeds and weather conditions, as
well as the normal speed required
by the schedule, and in each In
stance the bus so tested worked
entirely properly. This was done
In fair weather and rainy wea-
ther, tests being made at different
times.
Estimates Speed
On the day OF the accident the
bus left Blackie's refreshment
stand at the top of the hill, going
down towards Cheshire. and Inn
mediately after a light truck
owned by the Fernwood Dairy fell
In behind the bus and continued
on down the hill at about the
same relative speed as the bus.
This Fernwood truck had on 1t 9
governor which governed the
speed Of the truck down to thirty
five miles an hour, which could
Of course be slightly increased on
q hill II the hill were steep
enough, and the operator of this
truck states that the speed Of the
bus at the time It went into the
skid was thirty-f1ve miles an hour.
On the Waterbury side Of the
Marion road there Is an -" curve
at the same or greater grade as
the road at the point where the
accident occurred. The BUS nego-
tiated these turns without any
accident and the curve on which
the accident occurred Is slight
indeed compared to the -" turns
west Of the Marion road. When
the bus left the curve below the
Marion road II suddenly started
to skid. the rear swinging to the
left. The operator Of the following
truck observed this. When he
reached the same point that the
bus started to skid he started to
skid In idcntically the same man
ner. The bus driver pulled his
machine out OF the FIRST skid as
did also the Fernwood truck driv-
er. The F'ernwood truck driver,
however, pulled over on to the
shoulder OF the road and stopped
and from that position observed
what transpired ahead Of him.
After the bus pulled out Of the
first skid II seemed as II he had
succeeded In avoiding the diff
Guilty when he suddenly went into
q second skid, probably because
he had cramped his wheels a lit
tie too much In pulling out Of the
FIRST skid. He did not. however,
apply his brakes which. Accord
ing to the witness, Green. who
was observing the behavior OF the
bus from the other side of the
highway and who himself was
accustomed to heavy duty motor
equipment, was the proper thing
to do.
Bus Skids
A substitute driver, who was q
passenger In the bus ct the time
and who had been operating the
same bus earlier In the day, re-
ported that the bus pulled to one
side. This happened at the time
he was going down the grade to-
ward the railroad crossing In West
Cheshire from Cheshire. and was
caused by his applying the brakes
too suddenly on the wet pave
ment. but IN this particular In
stance no brakes were applied so
that the starting skid could not
have been caused by too sudden
an application Of the air brakes.
Another contributing factor
over which there Is a great deal
Of divergence Of opinion is the
condition Of the highway at the
point where the accident occurred
and along the route before that
point was reached. The witness,
Green, says that he was impress
ed Immediately after leaving the
scene Of the accident-because he
was the first to hurry to a tele-
phone, which he did at Blackie's
that as soon as he reached the
corner around which the bus was
coming when the skid started he
ran on to dry pavement and that
from this corner down to the
place where the bus eventually
left the road the pavement was
wet. Some Of the witnesses say
that 1t rained all the way from
Waterbury or q short distance
east Of Waterbury to the scene OF
the accident; some say hard. some
say drizzle and some say In
different amounts at different
places, but the fact that
Green was SO impressed with this
fact and because he has been an
operator Of heavy equipment In
clines me to believe that he was
alayzing the situation and that
these particular facts impressed
themselves on his memory.
Veteran Employe