In a report issued earlier in March, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of a fatal 2024 Rushville-Industry school bus crash was the driver’s impairment and fatigue from “multiple prescription medications.”
The school bus eastbound on U.S. 24 just outside of Rushville crossed the center line and collided with a semi tractor trailer, killing the driver, Angela Spiker, 57, Rushville, and three students aboard, Maria Miller, 5, Andrew Miller, 3 and Noah Driscoll, 3, all of Rushville. Maria Miller and Andrew Miller were siblings.
Also killed was truck driver David Coufal, 72, of Browning.
The impact ignited an immediate fire involving the school bus. Both vehicles exited the north side of the roadway, where the semitrailer overturned and was eventually engulfed by the fire.
Rushville is in Schuyler County and about 60 miles west of Springfield.
According to the report, Spiker had a documented history of medical conditions and had been receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits since 2016. Her qualifying conditions included chronic neck and arm pain resulting from cervical fusion surgery.
Spiker’s Social Security Administration (SSA) medical file obtained by the NTSB indicated she self-reported chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, anemia, arthritis and hepatitis as disabilities that prevented her full-time employment.
Various physician groups and several pharmacies prescribed Spiker multiple medications, including promethazine, baclofen, gabapentin, tramadol and phentermine to help her manage the conditions.
Postmortem toxicology testing detected depressants tramadol, gabapentin and promethazine in Spiker’s central nervous system. Phentermine, a prescription amphetamine medication used to augment weight loss, was also present.
Spiker received a commercial driver’s license with a bus passenger endorsement seven months before the crash.
The report determined the school bus was equipped with driver assistance technologies, including alane keeping system (LKS), but because of the crash, the on/off status of the system couldn’t be determined.
Had the system been activated, it likely would have alerted the driver that the school bus was unintentionally departing its lane and provided “temporary steering assistance to return the bus to its lane,” the report stated.
No mechanical issues with the bus were identified, according to the report.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: NTSB issues final report on 2024 fatal Rushville school bus crash
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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