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Two full tourist coaches collided head-on in the early morning at Clybucca Flat, 12km north of Kempsey, at an estimated combined speed of 200 km/h. The coaches concertinaed into each other, killing both drivers instantly. The impact snapped seats from their anchor bolts so that both seats & passengers were hurled about the vehicles with terrific force, which also trapped people & their luggage against the back of the bus.
The force of the impact left the McCafferty's Sydney-bound (south) coach in the cabin of the TransCity Brisbane-bound (north) coach. The Sydney coach was forced 5 rows back into the other. The accident triggered a major immediate response as police, SES & 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 & Sydney. A NSW Coroner's inquiry into the coach collision found that the McCafferty driver fell asleep at the wheel. The driver failed to negotiate a left-hand bend on the highway & the coach crossed to the wrong side & collided with the TransCity coach.
The coroner renewed calls for a dual-carriageway highway between Newcastle & the Queensland border, following a 21 deaths in a coach/semi-trailer accident at Cowper, north of Grafton in October, 1989 (see ID 5319). The coroner also recommended research into coach seats, seat anchorages & 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 coach travelled in a straight line for the curve (on the highway) & there was no indication that the driver had applied his brakes or dim the headlights, the coroner found. Neither coach was speeding at the time of the crash, & no mechanical faults were found in either vehicle, the coroner said. |
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