Bus crash on Caesar's Head, SC

[kyle4501]

http://www.wyff4.com/news/21865875/detail.html

Good news, no one died.

Smart driver saved the day!

[James77MCI8]

I saw these buses headed west on I-26 this morning around 9:30 Am. Kudos to the driver for quick thinking.

[Bestekustoms]

FOR SALE....PREVOST PARTS...CHEAP.

JOHN

[philiptompkjns]

Anyone know what failed in the breaking system? I like to learn from stuff like this.

[James77MCI8]

The local news reports that the driver got the brakes hot .

[PCC]

Brakes need to be checked before each and every trip, and also along the way.

Making sure that there is only so much movement by the slack adjusters ensures that the linings, or pads, will make contact with the drums or rotors.

Heat expands the drums, and causes the linings to not reach them to apply sufficient pressure to slow the vehicle.

The heat disipation by the rotors causes the pads to glaze, and their effectiveness is reduced.

I was taught, just an example, that if it takes 300 HP to get the coach up to speed in 60 seconds, think about the amount the 3000 horsepower it takes, that the brakes must develop, to stop that vehicle in 6 seconds.

Rule of thumb; check your brakes before every long downhill, and at every fuel stop, also during your pre-trip every time when starting a trip.

Commercial/professional drivers are required to do so by law, and are potentially liable if this is not done.

[John316]

PCC,

What exactly do you mean by "check your brakes." Do you mean use an IR gun to see what the heat is? Do you mean get under and check your slack adjusters?

Thanks.

God bless,

John

[PCC]

After they are cooled (while on a drive), or before they are used (still cool), check and aadjust the slacks. An IR gun only tells me if they are warm, and they will be warmed with each use, and that is not a definitive that they are correctly adjusted.

Hot brakes are good, not while driving, for thawing some of my hanged meat.

[JackConrad]

   Proper brake application method and maintaining correct (slow) speed (selecting correct gear) when going downhill is also important.
  Truckers will crawl under their rigs and check the brake adjustemnt before starting down a long, steep downgrade. Unfortunately, this operation is very difficult, and dangerous with an air bag suspended bus. With so little clearance under our coaches, it is almost impossible top crawl under our coaches. Jack

[PCC]

Another thing I was taught is that if you go up a hil and the highest gear you use is 'second' (for example), going down the hill, do not go above 'second'.

Gentle brake application allows the brakes to get rid of the heat and maintain a controlable speed, plus the use of the transmission, and the jake, if you need.

On a downhill, speed is a huge enemy; it can cause the vehicle to runaway, and that is a very scary experience.

Sometimes, it encourages prayer and a new-found spiritual conversion.

[John316]

It has slipped my mind, but what is the correct throw on the auto slack adjusters. I have it in the book, but I wondered if one of you could refresh me.

I usually check the slacks just before a trip...

BTW, We always crawl down the hills. There is always times when another truck blow, or bus blows by, but we always say that it isn't worth it. We are the one that crawl down the hills. We certainly don't have a problem getting to the top first, going uphill, but there is no race getting to the bottom.

Our new Jakes have been worth every penny that we spent on them. We did trail ridge road, up to the visitor center at the top. That was incredible, but it sure was a long ways down. We rode the jakes, all of the way down. Of course, we felt bad for the poor folks behind us. I hope they had their ear protection on .

God bless,

John

[PCC]

A half inch to three-quarters (max) is the adjustment I was taught.

I am also told that running the jake all day might draw the attention of those guys who have that pad of tickets.

Long durations of jake use also does cause those behind you to want to get around you, creating another situation for risk caused by drivers who are driving impatiently; who do not recognize that you are trying to be safe, but gentle brake use, and using the correct transmission gear will always be considered the best choiuces, with the jake as you backup, when you need a little extra.



I was sharing yesterday an experience I had, when I was driving a European coach. The jake switch was on the floor where the High Beam switch was on the MCI, Prevost, etc coaches that I was used to driving.  I went to hit the high beams, and woke all my passengers up, and caused myself to lean toward the windshield.

Talk about embarrassing !!

[Busted Knuckle]

Back in the day when I was a rookie or green horn truck driver fresh out of Mid-West City driving turned coast to coast driver I was scared to death  the first time I got out in Oregon and was faced with taking an 80,000 truck down "the Cabbage Patch" with out jake brakes.
To this day I still remember one of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given! An "old hand" told me; "Son you can only go down one mountain too fast, but you can go down many, many mountains too slow and live to tell about it!"
I have often thought of and passed on that advice now for over 20 years! FWIW!
  BK 

[lostagain]

OK here we go again! (This has been discussed before).

You can't crawl under a bus to check your brakes on  the side of the road. The bus is too low. Plus it might fall down and crush you if an air leak suddenly happens. I don't even do that in my pretrip.

What I do is make sure everything with the brakes (and all other systems) is in good shape when I do my preventive maintenance. So when I go on a road trip, I have confidence that the coach is in top shape. When I drove professionally, we just had to trust the shop mechanics with their work.

Just starting to go down a long hill, I know I haven't abused my brakes and they are cool,  and shift down into the appropriate gear so I only have to use the brakes lightly. (The same bus without Jakes will have to be a gear or two lower to hold it).

With the 102D3 of the hockey team's, I drive with the Jakes on all the time, unless it is really icy. This way my brakes stay nice and cool, ready for when I really need them. Plus it feels a lot more secure slowing down with the Jakes on. And they are not that loud with a good muffler.


In this accident, maybe there was a mechanical failure, or she overheated the brakes. In any case she had the good judgement to ditch it before it got worse.

JC

[Len Silva]

Being something of a skeptic, after looking at the pictures, I have to wonder if the driver didn't just lose it coming around that sharp curve and later coming up with the intentional ditching explanation.