The 1997 Les Éboulements bus accident, also known as the St. Joseph Bus Accident, occurred on
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
Day, October 13, 1997, in
Les Éboulements
Les Éboulements () is a municipality (Quebec), municipality in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada.
Its population centres include Les Éboulements (located along Quebec Route 362, Route 362 on the plateau overlooking the Saint Lawr ...
(St-Joseph-de-la-Rive),
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. 44 died as a result of the crash, making it the deadliest
traffic collision
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...
in Canadian history.
A similar crash had occurred in 1974 at the very same spot and had resulted in 14 deaths.
Crash
The bus, carrying members of a
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...
Club on an overnight
leaf peeping trip, had travelled on Quebec Highways 138 and 362 from
Saint-Bernard headed for
L'Île-aux-Coudres. It was travelling down Côte des Éboulements, which had a steep hill with a sharp right turn at the base. The time was 1:45 pm, and the roads were dry and clear. The driver, André Desruisseaux, was unable to slow the bus to negotiate the curve, and the bus collided with the guardrail, smashed through it and plunged over 10 metres into a ravine.
It landed, slid on its right side and came to rest beside an elevated
railway line
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
. The crash and fall slammed the occupants violently around the interior of the vehicle, injuring most of them fatally. No skid marks were found on the road at the site of the crash, leading authorities to immediately suspect brake failure. Witnesses also reported the smell of burning brake fluid coming from the bus.
Victims
There were 48 people aboard the bus, including the driver. Five survived the crash initially, however one of them succumbed to their injuries a month later. All the victims were senior citizens from the small village of
Saint-Bernard, except for the 29-year-old bus driver, who was from
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
.
Inquiry
An inquiry into the crash was ordered by the
Government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...
and was headed by coroner Luc Malouin, but the provincial government immediately announced plans to rebuild the road to improve safety by relocating it and eliminating the sharp curve. The cause of the crash was determined to be brake failure - the coroner determined that brakes only had 30 percent of their braking capacity, and that André Mercier, owner of the bus company Autobus Mercier, was not competent in managing his bus
fleet
Fleet may refer to:
Vehicles
* Fishing fleet
*Naval fleet
* Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles
* Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company
Places
Canada
* Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet
England
* The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Be ...
. Also contributing to the crash was the driver's exhaustion: he had less than 5 hours of sleep the night before, and had been putting in over-50-hour work-weeks. On March 23, 1999, the coroner released his final report on the crash, maintaining his initial conclusions. He made several recommendations, but rebuilding the road was not among them.
Controversy
Litigation by environmental groups who contested the government decision not to hold consultations and studies regarding the environmental impact of the work resulted in a one-year delay before road work could begin. Work began on June 7, 1999. Because the coroner had made no recommendations regarding the road, the government was criticized for spending public money in a wasteful manner.
Road improvements
The road is now separated with a
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...
and the slope has been reduced on the hill. All vehicles are required to stop before proceeding down the hill, and commercial vehicles are required to verify the correct operation of their brakes.
There are plans to build a lookout which would include an official memorial near the location of the crash, providing a safe location for motorists who wish to visit the site. By 2009, the lookout was complete and in use. There is a memorial for the victims, and the lookout offers a view on l'Île-aux-Coudres shoulder.
See also
*
List of road accidents
*
List of deadliest Canadian traffic accidents
Notes
All links retrieved on November 3, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Les Eboulements
Bus incidents in Canada
1997 road incidents
1997 in Quebec
Disasters in Quebec
Accidental deaths in Quebec
October 1997 in Canada
Capitale-Nationale