Adopted: February 22, 1979
OSTERKAMP TRUCKING, INC.
TRUCK/FULL TRAILER AND DODGE VAN COLLISION
U.S. 91 NEAR SCIPIO, UTAH
AUGUST 26, 1977
NTSB Number: HAR-79/01
NTIS Number: PB-293501/AS
SYNOPSIS
At 4:15 p.m. on August 26, 1977, a 1973 Dodge van and a 1977 Peterbilt truck, pulling an empty 1977 Reliance full trailer, collided head-on during a moderate-to-heavy rainstorm on U.S. 91, 8 miles north of Scipio, Utah. The eight occupants of the van were killed and the truckdriver was injured.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was that either or both drivers failed to maintain their vehicle in the proper traffic lane for reasons that could not be determined.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As a result of its investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended:
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
"Accelerate efforts to identify the frictional properties of commercial vehicle tires at all degrees of tire yaw, under loading conditions ranging from 15 to 100 percent of rated load capacity. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-5)
"Examine the full potential effect of fluctuating and progressively lower pavement frictional quality on vehicle performance. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-6)"
to the Federal Highway Administration:
"Evaluate the procedures used in the Safety Board's investigation of this accident for possible inclusion in FHWA guidelines for determining the frictional quality of pavements during pavement inventory programs. (Class II, Priority Action) (H-79-7)"
