Human error and inadequate signage blamed in Atlanta motorcoach crash

Jul 16, 2008

A motorcoach driver who mistook an exit ramp for a through lane caused a crash that killed himself and six passengers in Atlanta last year, a final report from the National Transportation Safety Board states.

The report also blamed the Georgia Department of Transportation for failure to provide adequate traffic control devices to identify the two different lanes.

The crash occurred March 2, 2007, when a passenger motorcoach operated by Ottawa, OH-based Executive Coach Luxury Travel Inc. exited the "high-occupancy vehicle only" lane of Interstate 75 in Atlanta, entered an intersection on an overpass, crashed through a bridge wall and fell 19 feet onto the interstate. Seven passengers – the driver, his wife, and five members of the Bluffton University baseball team – were killed.

The board made five recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration for uniformity of certain requirements, standards and criteria in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The board also made five recommendations to the Georgia Department of Transportation on signage improvements.