Videos on bus capture disaster when driver falls asleep

I hope no one was seriously injured in this nightmarish highway accident.

• [Anonymous]

  Put me in the column that does not mind the horrific accident posts: ours can be a dangerous world, too much obfuscation and candy-coating does us a disservice. . .’Let’s be careful out there. . .’

• [Anonymous]

  Anonymous here, reminding you to check your mirrors every 15 seconds.

• [Anonymous]

  The animations does not match the crash. Near the end of the animation the bus rearends a car which flips over infront of the bus. This does not happen in the video.

  • [deckard68]

    “The animations does not match…in the animation the bus rearends a car which flips over infront of the bus. This does not happen in the video.”

    Yes it does, you have to watch the side camera to see that happen. You can almost imagine the moment when the driver’s neck snapped!

    BoingBoing: Faces of Death!

• [Felton]

  I hope no one was seriously injured in this nightmarish highway accident.

  You’d think that one line would be enough to keep everybody from projecting the lowest common denominator of the internet onto Mark.

• [Anonymous]

  Impressive alertness/driving on the part of the black minivan that speed away in the emergency lane at the end of the video.

  • [EH]

    That dude gets the extreme bonus round for sure! He comes within a foot or so of getting the rear end and takes the hole shot.

    Leave yourself an out, people!

• [Michael Smith]

  If my car is in gear but has no control input it will creep forward on the torque converter. I think this is wrong. Instead I think a power vehicle with no input from the driver should gently apply brakes and come to a stop. Drivers do fall to sleep, die and have seizures from time to time. This is of interest to me because I have been prone to seizures lately.

• [davechua]

  Lets face it; it’s an exceptional piece of crashporn that you could not stop watching and rewatching.

• [Anonymous]

  Une petite morte, indeed.

• [Tzctlp]

  I was going to bang about the “wonderful things” motto that used to grace the website.

  After the editors were called to task for their fixation with some fankly horrific themes they have changed the website motto to “Boing Boing: Media culture brainwash for now people” which is a cop out the size of the Golden Gate Bridge, but at least is more honest: the site is about whatever they want, and so one can’t complaint about the topicality of a posting really.

  Still one has to wonder what compels people to post this as something worth sharing with others (I saw it, I wont share it, the horribleness bucket stops with me).

• [xaxa]

  In London on Sunday at about 3:30 the bus directly in front of the one I was on hit a pedestrian. I didn’t realise what had happened, and got off at my usual stop (to change). There was an unconscious man, a lot of blood, a screaming girlfriend, a bystander talking to the ambulance despatcher, a shocked bus driver and about six people standing around feeling helpless.

  The man’s girlfriend was either American or Canadian. Perhaps he was too, in which case I suspect he stepped out into the road while looking the wrong way. It’s a shame he didn’t use either of the two very close by pedestrian crossings (StreetView).

  I wonder whether he survived.

• [thequickbrownfox]

  Sandra Bullock driving?

• [adamnvillani]

  If you don’t like it, make your own blog.

  Are we not allowed to criticize Boing Boing? I too find it kind of tasteless to say “Whoa, check out this awesome crash” to a video of people dying.

  • [Itsumishi]

    I don’t think that is what is said at all. It’s a fascinating video, horrific yes, but fascinating.

  • [Mark Frauenfelder]

    “Whoa, check out this awesome crash”

    Yuck. Why would you think that?

• [holtt]

  It’s called “customer feedback” and it’s an important part of any service. And one that should be at least listened to. Doesn’t mean something has to happen, but at least listen to it. And I agree with him by the way.

  Oh and I hope to hell that never happens to me when I’m driving my Midget. It’s bad enough in that tiny little car around all these Texas H2′s and pickups. Imagine a bus doing that. ASCII representation –> _________

• [Anonymous]

  the video was posted and we all (most, anyway) watched it. it’s difficult to couple a video like this with a caption that justifies its inclusion; mark’s was basically the safest possible one. no one can complain if he says he hopes nobody was injured, but with “nightmarish,” he acknowledges that it’s pretty likely that someone was. an at-once personal and distanced caption like that is akin to “just look at it,” which isn’t really a bad thing because you just don’t often see a large-scale car accident as it happens. it’s just a little more morbid than the crash videos i’ve seen here recently is all.

• [Anonymous]

  at least he wasn’t texting while driving

• [Anonymous]

  FYI, in Chinese (Taiwanese Mandarin in this recording), the character “clap” basically means to “hit”, which should have been in this context to “shoot” with a camera.

• [The Chemist]

  And this is why we have concrete dividers. Wonderful things if I ever saw ‘em.

• [agreenster]

  At 1:10

  I think thats a body part flying across the screen…

  Pretty disturbing….

  • [MySobriquet]

    I think it’s a headrest at 1:10.

• [za7ch]

  What a truly incredible video. Sad that people died, but that happens when people make the risk of getting out of bed each day, I suppose. We all die some day.

  • [Tzctlp]

    “We all die some day.”

    That does not mean we need to make it a voyeuristic show, does it?

• [MarkM]

  What, no snarky comments about the translations?
  Lets get going!

  “When affairs took place car up
  the camera took of actual
  condition…”

  “The guard only needs a second, But get hurt is an
  influence lifetime”

• [Anonymous]

  Just seeing all those cars smash out of the way was almost painful to watch. D:

• [Anonymous]

  most taiwanese highways are around the 110km/h mark so its not surprising that this bus kept on going. another issue to the death/injured toll. the law states to wear a seat belt in the front seats, the back seats does not count, i’m fairly certain that this is also correct on the high way.

• [IamInnocent]

  Didn’t watch it, won’t watch it. I’m not squeamish, I worked in ER when I was almost a kid still. I just don’t see what would be gained for me or the people involved in that accident if I did watch it.
  Oh, I also don’t care if BB posted on this or not: as a matter of fact, I observed that there are many BB, each characterized by its public and what they find wonderful.

• [cymk]

  “I hope no one was seriously injured in this nightmarish highway accident.”

  I’m pretty sure the guy in car being drug by the bus (at 0:36) got seriously hurt.

• [Whiskey Spider]

  Posting some context, instead of just the video, would make it seem less “awesome crash”. I think people would also appreciate a warning if they are about to watch something in which people die.

  • [Itsumishi]

    I think people would also appreciate a warning if they are about to watch something in which people die

    Mark didn’t know whether people died or if there was any serious injuries. This was pretty damn blatant with the “I hope no one was seriously injured” part of his statement.

    Also if nightmarish highway accident isn’t an indicator that someone might have died then what is?

  • [Anonymous]

    “if they are about to watch something in which people die.”

    What? Did you see someone die? You must have some amazing powers because I didn’t.

    If the commenter above didn’t mention that there were 4 dead you would have never known. The post with the video could have easily said “good thing no one was injured” and your dumb ass would believe that too.

• [dainel]

  What is so wonderful about bad accidents happening to other people? That it happened to ***OTHER*** people. That it didn’t happen to me. I’m very happy I was not in that car that flipped over.

• [andyhavens]

  I vote for no more of this stuff on BB. We get enough violent, titillating crap on the teevee. I accidentally stumbled on “1000 Ways to Die” one night while channel surfing. Turned my stomach. This ain’t far off from that.

  • [donniebnyc]

    “I accidentally stumbled on “1000 Ways to Die” one night while channel surfing. Turned my stomach.”

    After how long?

    • [andyhavens]

      @donniebnyc: About 30 seconds. It took me that long to realize what the heck it was, register my deep dislike, and surf on.

      I went to the web site for the program and left a comment for the producers to the effect that I found what they were doing to be tasteless and without value. I also went to the websites of two of the advertisers I’d just seen on Spike, where the show airs, and let them know I disapproved.

      I know… there’s a fine line between news and a grizzly fascination with death. I don’t think that thinking or talking about death is inappropriate; but it should be in a way, I think, that’s helpful to some extent rather than just sensational. Really impressive footage of a bus crash or someone having their head exploded on a railroad track doesn’t make any of the viewers any smarter or more informed about death. It just gives us our jollies while somebody else dies. Not my cup o’ tea.

      Fictional violence? Bring it on. Even if it’s just for entertainment sake, I can rationalize the difference between fantasy and reality.

• [audax_axon]

  I was a passenger in a bus accident (rollover) about six months ago, there were several moderately serious injuries among the eight passengers aboard but nothing worse, miraculously enough. The bus was the only vehicle involved and slid about thirty (perhaps more) feet on it’s side before impacting a light pole with the roof and coming to a sudden rest.

  Since that experience I have been interested in studying the various ways such large vehicle accidents can play out. (bus accidents are very rare, but nonetheless there is a great deal of attention given to them since the potential impact is so great). My interest is primarily geared towards the physics involved in sudden velocity shifts which concern large moving metal masses and any accompanying squishy humans.

  I’d venture that increasing understanding of the ways that these events can play out could have the potential to increase the likelihood of survival and avoidance of such events in the first place. I appreciated the opportunity to see this, even though it was difficult to watch.

  • [Anonymous]

    Well, that’s right! If You look on that video of the truck accident (The first announced under „Previously”), then You can see a guy waiting on the bridge segment and forgetting to step back this two steps, to avoid falling down.
    At least as dumb as the driver…
    Stuff

• [za7ch]

  Man, people are really squeamish about the topic of death aren’t they? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but it’s nevertheless odd.

• [Antinous / Moderator]

  It’s my experience that people who aren’t very good at processing unpleasant emotions tend to lash out at the person they hold responsible for generating the emotion, also known as shooting the messenger. Why do you watch something if you know that you can’t handle it?

• [adamnvillani]

  Yuck. Why would you think that?

  Maybe put some more commentary next time so we can at least understand why you post these things.

• [deckard68]

  So *that* is the sound of one side camera clapping.

  • [jackie31337]

    I’m curious what the correct translation of that would have been.

• [Daedalus]

  In my mind, the story isn’t about the crash.

  There’s probably more than one fatality every day out there on the road, and driving is by far the most dangerous method of long-distance transportation. Crashes happen regularly. People die on the road. There’s not much unique or fascinating to say about it.

  The story is about the cameras. The way we can see what happened from three different angles. The way surveillance is personal. The strangeness of living in a world where video of an event like this is captured while the event is occurring, shared, and replayed back hundreds of times, all over the world.

  We see new things with our tech. This post, to me, seems to be about “we are seeing in a new way,” not “check out this crash.” It’s about the audience experience, not the accident.

  • [Whiskey Spider]

    I agree with your view of the video. There is a lot that can be taken from it: the strange and intriguing camera angles; an example of need for better safety regulation for truck/bus drivers; speculation of how emerging technology might one day make these kinds of crashes a thing of the past.

    However, the poster did none of that. And the total lack of context turned it into merely gawking at a horrific, fatal car accident.

    • [Mark Frauenfelder]

      “the total lack of context turned it into merely gawking at a horrific, fatal car accident.”

      I know it is hard to go through life not having someone there to explain and interpret everything you see, but it might do you some good to try figuring things out on your own once in a while.

      • [Tdawwg]

        Well, to be fair, captions like I hope no one [notices my gleefully demonic hopes that a cuddly pack of newborn puppies] was seriously injured in this nightmarish[ly cool and spectacularly fun YEAH] highway accident are incredibly inflammatory. I think I speak for many in condemning what’s possibly the meanest think I’ve ever read, or ever will read. Absolutely horrifying, shocking, etc., for shame!

• [justanotherusername]

  Truck drivers are underpaid and are forced to work insane hours.

  (And it would surprise me if nobody was seriously injured.)

  • [smgrady]

    they should be paid like bus drivers in my city…
    http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_24af32d4-13f4-11df-86b2-001cc4c002e0.html

  • [Anonymous]

    I thought truck drivers made a pretty decent wage. compared to other less-than-glamorous jobs, of course.

• [lava]

  at least two cars/vans ended upside-down. If you were not injured in that you would be very lucky.

• [Teller]

  I like FPS games.

• [tazzy531]

  I took one of these buses when I was in Taiwan last month. UBus are quite ubiquitous there. These aren’t tourist buses. These are buses that connect the cities in Taiwan.

  The nice thing about these buses is that the seats are like LayZBoys. They were huge and rather comfortable. Some buses even had personal entertainment devices like ones you see on planes built into the seats.

  One thing that I found interesting was that the bus drivers were required to take breathalyzer tests at every bus station that they stopped at.

• [Caroline]

  Sadly, I’d be surprised if at least one person wasn’t killed (the car you can see get spun around and directly T-boned on the driver’s side, at about 0:36-0:40).

  How horrible.

• [Phikus]

  Nice Engrish captions. Anyone know where this happened?

• [Antinous / Moderator]

  Working at home: priceless.

  I wonder at what point, if any, the driver woke up.

• [hadlock]

  And this, folks, is why we have restrictions in the US on how many hours a driver/airline pilot is allowed in a day/week/month

• [Lobster]

  It’s really true, the guard only needs a second,But get hurt is an influence lifetime.

• [Tomas]

  First, this was a BUS not a TRUCK and there are readily available details and ample news coverage…

  From a post I made at another site six days ago:
  ________________

  “Appears the tourist bus driver possibly fell asleep at the wheel and plowed full speed into the traffic jam in front of him. 13 cars hit, 4 people dead, and 15 people injured.

  I have to admit that Mitsubishi bus is one tough machine – it was still drivable.

  A couple of news reports on the accident:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa4YgkCQUF4

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEnaG15UX6Q ”
  ________________

• [igpajo]

  That second link above even has a fairly accurate animation of what happened. Those Chinese news stations must employ a full staff of animators.
  What a horrible accident though.

• [daen]

  You don’t need to be a genius to watch this and think to yourself, “someone died here”. This *does* cater to the rubbernecker in all of us – we’re compelled to watch, but we shouldn’t be proud of it.

• [mr_josh]

  It’s too bad that people died and this isn’t my attempt at a trivialization of the event, I assure you, but I can’t help but thinking: that looks EXACTLY the way it does in Grand Theft Auto. It’s surprising, really.

  • [Tdawwg]

    Totally: the physics simulator on this video is incredible!

• [SamSam]

  I’m wondering why it is that we keep getting posts with videos of horrific accidents on Boing Boing? This isn’t a “this not a wonderful thing” comment, I’m just wondering what it is that Mark and others find so interesting about these videos that makes them want to share them?

  • [dculberson]

    They’re fascinating. If you’re not fascinated by them, in amongst your apparent disdain for the posting of them, then I don’t know what to say!

  • [coaxial]

    If you don’t like it, make your own blog.

    • [SamSam]

      Um, thanks for handing me the canned response that goes to every “waaah this isn’t a wonderful thing”-comment. But I’ve been happily following this blog for many years and said that I wasn’t making that comment. Rather I was actually asking Mark what it was that he found so fascinating about these that makes BB keep posting them, since I was wondering if I was missing something.

      Personally, I see not a lot of difference between this and videos of the Georgian luger dying, since it’s quite likely that people died during this as well, but I don’t need others to agree with me.

  • [Anonymous]

    Honestly, it’s just morbid curiosity for the most part. Strange, but quite normal nevertheless.

  • [Mark Frauenfelder]

    Too much JG Ballard as a callow youth, I s’pose

  • [jackie31337]

    Personally, I’m fascinated by accidents and accident investigation because I feel a need to understand what went wrong and how, and possibly what can be done to prevent it from happening again. This particular crash seems to be a pretty straightforward case of the driver falling asleep, but there are still lessons to be learned from it.