About 11:05 p.m., June 8, 1979, a Buick sedan, with eight occupants, was westbound on the Grand Central Parkway in New York City. The Buick, while in the acceleration lane of the 188th Street westbound, parkway entrance ramp, passed another westbound vehicle at a high rate of speed. Upon re-entering the parkway through lanes, the Buick veered out of control to the left, vaulted the median guardrail, and collided with three eastbound passenger cars. Two passengers in the Buick and the drivers of two of the eastbound cars were killed; 10 persons were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the Buick driver's loss of vehicle control which resulted from driver intoxication, excessive speed, and sharp steering maneuvers while passing another westbound vehicle. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the failure of the substandard median barrier system to contain the Buick which vaulted into the opposing lanes of traffic.
Highway Accident Report - Multiple Vehicle Median Barrier Crossover and Collision, Grand Central Parkway, New York, New York, June 8, 1979
1979
24 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Road Transportation , Motor vehicle accidents , Accident investigations , Collisions , Steering , Control , Velocity , New York , Median crossover collisions , Median barriers , New York City(New York) , Grand Central Parkway , Alcohol related crashes , Human factors , Vehicle passing , Driver intoxication