The deadliest bus crash in Australian history was a few days before Christmas in 1989,when two tourist coaches crashed head-on near Kempsey,on the Pacific Highway at Clybucca Flat.
Thirty-five people died,including two bus drivers,and another 41 were injured,when the driver of a bus bound for Sydney fell asleep at the wheel and collided with the coach bound for Brisbane.
Two months earlier and only 200 kilometres away from Kempsey,21 people died,and 22 people were seriously injured,when a semi-trailer crashed into a coach on the same highway near Grafton.
The truck driver,who died in the crash,was found to have an extraordinary high level of ephedrine in his blood. It is now illegal to drive a heavy vehicle while intoxicated by drugs or alcohol.
The National Safety Commission found the Kempsey and Grafton crashes were “arguably Australia’s most catastrophic examples of high consequence/low probability incidents in the bus industry”.
In their aftermath,the NSW Coroner recommended a review of coach seats,seat anchorages,seatbelts and better emergency exits for coaches.
Read more about Australia’s worst bus crasheshere.