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STATE: CHP concludes investigation on deadly 2014 FedEx semi crash with tour bus
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Highway Patrol on Friday said it has completed its investigation of the deadly collision last year involving a FedEx semi and a tour bus near Orland.
The collision occurred on Thursday, April 10, 2014, at approximately 5:40 p.m., on Interstate 5 in an unincorporated area of Glenn County and claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 39, many of them Southern California high school students traveling to Humboldt State for a campus visit.
The crash killed FedEx semi driver Timothy Paul Evans, 32, of Elk Grove; bus driver Talalelei Feleni Lealao-Taiao, 53, of Sacramento; chaperones Mattison Leatrice Haywood, 25, of Chino and Michael Lee Myvett Jr., 29, of Los Angeles; Humboldt State admissions office staffer Arthur Arzola; and students Ismael Jimenez, 18, of Inglewood; Jennifer Caroline Bonilla, 17, of Los Angeles; Denise Eraina Gomez, 18, of Inglewood; and Marisa Elaine Serrato, 17, of Riverside.
The CHP concluded that the collision was caused, for unknown reasons, by Evans' violation of California Vehicle Code section 22107, unsafe turning movement.
An undetermined medical condition, sleepiness or driver fatigue may have contributed, but there was no conclusive evidence, the CHP said.
“Our investigators carefully analyzed every aspect of this collision and concluded that environmental factors, roadway conditions and vehicle maintenance were not the cause,” said CHP Northern Division Chief Ruben Leal. “The collision was caused – for unknown reasons – by the driver’s unsafe turning movement, and although fatigue or an undetermined medical condition may have contributed, there is no conclusive evidence.”
As Evans drove south on Interstate 5, for unknown reasons, he allowed the tractor-trailer to drift into and through the No. 1 lane, maintained this gradual path of travel through the median, and crossed into northbound traffic without applying the brakes or making any type of evasive steering, the CHP said.
Investigators with the CHP Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, or MAIT, did not find that environmental or mechanical factors caused or contributed to this collision.
Some evidence of possible fatigue or sleepiness on the part of Evans included the long straight section of roadway, the departure angle of the tires consistent with fatigue-related collisions, that Evans was alone and did not attempt to avoid a collision and an eyewitness report that Evans was slumped toward the driver’s window as he approached oncoming traffic, the CHP said.
Throughout the yearlong investigation, the CHP said it was committed to conducting a complete and thorough investigation into this tragedy to provide answers to those involved, their families and the public.
The CHP’s Northern Division MAIT closely investigated the environmental, mechanical and human factors involved in this collision. The MAIT then carefully detailed its findings in a 541-page report and several annexes.
With the severity and intricacy of traffic collisions dictating the need for more intensive investigations to determine subtle collision and injury causes, the CHP’s MAIT Program was established in 1978.
The objective of the MAIT Program is to provide the CHP with the means to conduct in-depth investigations and analyses of major traffic collisions throughout the state.
Investigations include the reconstruction of an incident and a study of the factors that may have contributed to the incident.
The factors include environmental, human and mechanical and are associated with the three phases of a collision which are precollision, at-collision and post-collision.
For more information on the MAIT program visit https://www.chp.ca.gov/programs-services/for-law-enforcement/multidisciplinary-accident-investigation-teams-%28mait%29 .
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the crash last year, but has not yet issued its final report.