Greeley bus disaster

The Greeley bus disaster refers to a collision between a train and a school bus in 1961 that resulted in the deaths of 20 passengers, with an additional 17 injuries. It was the deadliest traffic accident in the history of Colorado.

Background

On December 14, 1961, bus driver, Duane Harms, was completing his route. Besides Harms, the bus also was carrying an additional 36 students on their way to school. Harms was 23 years old at the time of the incident.
Around this same time, a Union Pacific streamliner, The City of Denver, was running 10 minutes behind of schedule. As it neared Greeley, Colorado, the train was traveling around 70 miles per hour.
Somewhere between 7:45 am and 8:00 am, the train and the bus were reaching the same point, which happened to be a diagonal crossing in a rural part of the city. These types of areas did not have proper signals or gates and were referred to as "passive crossings".

Collision

At around 7:59 am, the bus approached the diagonal crossing. Harms, not seeing the Streamliner approaching, continued through the crossing. However, the Streamliner impacted the rear of the bus at around 80 mph, splitting the bus in half and throwing it in the air. Harms suffered relatively minor injuries, unlike the students, many of whom were either dead or in critical condition. In all, 20 students were killed, the youngest being 6 years old, and the oldest being 14.

Cause

Initial blame was placed on the bus driver for his failure to see the approaching train. While Harms was initially indicted, it would ultimately be determined that the intersection of the crossing, would already greatly obstruct visibility of any driver approaching from the same position.

Aftermath

The site of the crossing was soon removed. A cement marker now stands near the location of the disaster.