Kempsey bus crash

The Kempsey bus crash occurred in Australia on December 22, 1989 when two full tourist coaches, each travelling at 100km/h, collided head-on on the Pacific Highway at Clybucca Flat, 12 km north of Kempsey, New South Wales. The collision killed both drivers instantly. The impact snapped seats from their anchor bolts. Seats and passengers were thrown about the vehicles with a terrific amount of force, which also trapped people and their luggage against the back of the bus. 35 people died and 41 were injured.

The force of the impact left a Sydney-bound coach, operated by McCafferty's Coaches, in the cabin of the Brisbane-bound coach, operated by Trans City. The Sydney-bound coach was forced 5 rows back into the other. The accident triggered a major immediate response as police, SES and volunteer rescuers, fire brigades & paramedics attended the accident.

A fleet of air ambulances & helicopters carried the injured to hospitals at Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Sydney. A NSW Coroner's inquiry into the collision found that the Sydney-bound coach's driver fell asleep at the wheel. The driver had failed to negotiate a left-hand bend on the highway and crossed to the wrong side, thus colliding with the Brisbane-bound coach.

The coroner renewed calls for the Pacific Highway to be upgraded to dual carriageway between Newcastle and the Queensland border, following the 21 deaths in the Grafton bus crash two months earlier in October, 1989. As of July 2008, only 267km of the highway has been upgraded to dual carriageway standard. 87km of divided road is under construction and 325km is still single carriageway.

The coroner also recommended research into coach seats, seat anchorages and seatbelts. Better emergency exits for coaches were also recommended, as rescuers were unable to enter the wreckage immediately because the exits were 2.4m above the ground.

The McCafferty's coach had travelled in a straight line until the curve on the highway and there was no indication that the driver had applied his brakes or dimmed the headlights, the coroner found. Neither coach was speeding at the time of the crash, and no mechanical faults were found in either vehicle, he said.

Amongst those killed in the crash were Brisbane-based journalists John and Robyn Harris and their teenage son Nicky. John was Arts Editor of The Sun newspaper while Robyn was a feature writer.

Despite the extensive damage suffered in the collision, both coaches were rebuilt in 1990 and returned to service with their respective owners. After the demise of Trans City, its fleet was sold off and McCafferty's was among the purchasers, buying three coaches including the one involved in the accident. Both of the coaches rebuilt after the Kempsey crash were operated by McCafferty's until early this century.

Almost unbelievably, the McCafferty's vehicle involved in the Kempsey crash was involved in another accident in the early hours of 22 December 2003, exactly 14 years to the day after the Kempsey tragedy. On this occasion the coach was travelling southbound towards Rockhampton on the Bruce Highway when it was involved in a head-on collision with a truck. On this occasion there were no fatalities, with six people suffering minor injuries. However, the coach was damaged beyond economic repair and was written off.

ee also

* List of disasters in Australia by death toll

References

* [http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/content.php/657.html Emergency NSW article including photo]
* [http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/ema/emadisasters.nsf/83edbd0553620d8cca256d09001fc8fd/866614596bedf7a7ca256d33000583e0?OpenDocument Mention on Emergency Management Australia website]
* [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/5f584b237987507aca256d09008051f3/96a63a38211b5b58ca256dfd000947cb!OpenDocument NSW Parliament mention in Hansard]