1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision
The 1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision 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 the deadliest and one of the worst traffic collisions in the history 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. Background. Previous to the  accident, US 11W was known for having a history of high accident and fatality rates throughout several decades, giving the highway the moniker Bloody 11W. The stretch of US 11W between Knoxville and Bristol has been labeled as one of the most dangerous and deadliest stretches of highway in the state of Tennessee and the nation. US 11W was considered by commuters and truck drivers as the principal route from Bristol to Knoxville, and experienced extreme congestion that was not suitable for its two-lane and curvy design between Knoxville and Bristol, leading to a high amount of fatal collisions  and injuries. In a one-year span previous to the 1972 accident, US 11W had experienced 1,068 collisions and 35 fatalities. The disturbing history of the highway soon spiraled merchandising such as bumper stickers regarding its situation. Incident. Around 4:45 a.m, the double-decker bus (a PD-4501 Scenicruiser) operated by Greyhound departed from Knoxville en route to Roanoke, Virginia. The bus had traveled eastward along US-11W for in 50 minutes, averaging a speed of . The tractor-trailer had departed at 8:53 a.m. on the previous day from a manufacturing facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, en route to Memphis. The tractor-trailer  had driven west in a period of 20.5 hours before reaching the site of the accident. The Greyhound bus had approached the site tailing a slow-moving car in the eastbound lane around 5:35 a.m. The bus then attempted to pass the automobile by crossing into the oncoming westbound lane, into the path of the tractor-trailer. The two vehicles then collided head-on, killing the truck driver, bus driver, and 12 of the bus's passengers instantly. Investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began an investigation on the crash in 1973 and completed a 38-page report on  the collision. The report would be issued to the public in February 1974. The NTSB concluded that the probable cause of the collision was the Greyhound bus driver's attempt to pass the automobile with the view of the westbound semi-truck being obstructed. The driver also failed to avoid the truck for unknown reasons. On the night previous to the accident, the bus driver checked into a Knoxville hotel around 4 p.m. A night clerk for the hotel had awakened the bus driver at 1 a.m. the day of the accident, and checked out of the hotel one hour  later. Following questioning by the NTSB, the clerk offered that the driver had a drowsy appearance on his departure from the hotel. A partial autopsy on the bus driver reported negativity on drug usage. Officials were unable to perform an autopsy on the truck driver following extensive burn damage beyond recognition. While the investigation suggested that there were no indications that the design of US 11W or the conditions of the truck and bus contributed to the accident, the possibilities were not entirely ruled out. The stretch of US 11W where the collision had occurred was not featured with double  yellow lines, which possibly led to the bus driver attempting to pass the slow-moving automobile ahead of it. The lack of restraints for passengers of the bus contributed to several fatalities of those on-board by ejection from the bus. The NTSB concluded the report with recommendations on seat belt legislation for bus passengers, and impact protection advancements on interior paneling surrounding windows on buses. Aftermath. 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 Lines for $2.5  million. Courts found Greyhound Lines to be at fault for the accident, regarding the failure to take action on the driver of the bus involved in the accident, who had a history of diabetes, heart and liver disease, and several other severe medical conditions following the investigation by the NTSB and Tennessee officials. In 1973, one year following the accident, Tennessee legislators from the House and Senate chambers formed a special-joint investigation committee into the crisis regarding 11W and its ill-fated past. The committee members billed 11W as one of the "killer highways" of the United States. The  committee held several public forums in cities along the 11W corridor, including Knoxville, Rutledge, Rogersville, and Kingsport. Attendees of the forums had brought up several statements concerning 11W, such as the highway being possibly cursed, first-hand experiences of collisions, and property owners willing to donate land for the widening of the highway in order to prevent further accidents. 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 paralleled the route of 11W. Governor Winfield Dunn called for action to widen 11W from two to four lanes in its entirety from Kingsport to Knoxville, stating: Plans and funding for the four-laning of 11W from Kingsport to Knoxville were established in 1973, but several state and local representatives across various districts in Grainger and Hawkins counties refused the financial aid of the state government for the widening of 11W. After the completion of Interstate 81, congestion and accident count on 11W decreased, but many still called for the widening of the highway, citing  its hazardous design. As of 2021, U.S. Route 11W has since been widened to four lanes or five lanes, except for the nearly stretch between the municipalities of Blaine and Bean Station in Grainger County, including where the bus-truck collision had occurred. It has been suggested that NIMBYism from property owners in Grainger County has played a significant role in the prevention and postponement of the critical construction plans. In 2020, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) had begun the right-of-way acquisition phase of the 11W widening project between Rutledge and Bean Station, expecting to begin construction  in 2021–2022.