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. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) The Pacific Highway is a major transport route in eastern Australia and is part of Australia's Highway 1. Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia in Kempsey Shire Council. 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 TransCity. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland 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. The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force previously New South Wales Police Service & New South Wales Police is the primary Law enforcement agency in the State of A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared (natural or otherwise disasters
A fleet of air ambulances & helicopters carried the injured to hospitals at Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Sydney. An air ambulance is an Aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional Ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach Port Macquarie is a large town on the mid- North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located about 390 km north of Sydney, and 570km south of Brisbane Coordinates: For the state electoral district see Electoral district of Coffs Harbour A NSW Coroner's inquiry into the collision found that the Sydney 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 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. A dual carriageway or divided highway is a road or Highway in which the two directions of traffic are separated by a central barrier or strip of land known as a The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent The Grafton bus crash killed 21 people and injured 22 on the Pacific Highway on the North Coast of New South Wales near Grafton on 20 October 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 Sydney 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, the coroner 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.
See also
References
- NSW Parliament mention in Hansard
- Mention on Emergency Management Australia website
- Emergency NSW article including photo
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic