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Bluffton University Bus Crash |
Reported By: Amanda Davis
ATLANTA (FOX 5) – They say no parent should have to
bury their child, but that is what happened to John
and Joy Betts. The Betts tragically lost their son
David, when he was killed along with four other
Bluffton University baseball players when the team's
charter bus fell over a Northside Drive overpass and
landed onto Interstate 75 below.
Just before dawn on March 2, the unthinkable
happened. A charter bus carrying the Bluffton
University baseball team mistakenly exited
Interstate 75 south. The bus hit an overpass bridge
on Northside Drive and toppled over, slamming into
the interstate below.
The bus driver and his wife were killed in the
crash, along with five Bluffton baseball players;
freshmen Zach Arendt, Scott Harmon and Cody Holp and
sophomores Tyler Williams and David Betts.
"I'm not sure there's very many hours that go by
that [you don't think of David]," said David Betts'
father, John.
John Betts was on his way to Florida with his father
to see his son play. They were in the Charlotte
airport when they got the call about the crash.
Instead of going on to Sarasota, John Betts headed
for Atlanta, where he had to identify his son at the
morgue.
"I think it's safe to say, that that was the worse
day of my life, yeah," recalled Betts.
The pain of David Betts' loss is still palpable
months later in his Ohio family home.
"We miss him every day, all the time, think about
him a lot. There's a hole there that can't be
filled," said David Betts' mother, Joy.
David Betts was the oldest child, an honor student,
a star athlete in basketball, baseball and cross
country. He was first chair in the high school band
and he also played the trombone in the jazz band.
"Not being able to touch, hug, talk to, seeing him
do goofy stuff. That makes me said," said John
Betts.
The Betts family said they are doing all they can to
keep their son's memory alive. At his old high
school, they set up two scholarships in his name.
One is for sports, and the other is for character.
"The best part of David was his heart. At 20 years,
two months and 22 days, I think he affected more
people positively than I have in 55," said John
Betts.
Head coach James Grandey survived the crash.
Grandey spent two weeks in an Atlanta hospital.
Every bone in his face was broken, his jaw was wired
shut and his leg and dislocated ankle were pinned
back together.
"I thing about everything, you think about what
happened or what might have happened or what caused
it and then we think about the players we've lost
and you know you think about how some of us
individuals somehow survived that accident," said
Grandey.
Grandey is still recovering from his injuries, but
he's come a long way.
"I still walk with a little bit of a limp. I can't
jog yet. I still get shooting pains everywhere," he
said.
Grandey is trying to concentrate on the season
ahead, his players and their collective healing.
"I think we all just look forward to two things
really. One is being on the field and being healthy
and two is being able to do the best we can to honor
the players that we lost," Grandey said.
The Betts family said they want to do more than
honor their son and the other lives that were lost
in the tragic accident, they want to prevent other
families from suffering their pain.
"I do know David and he would have definitely said
that that would have been important to him, that
nobody else lose their life on Northside Drive,"
said John Betts.
The Betts family has spent a lot of time studying
bus safety after the loss of their son.
"We know that all five boys died from blunt force
head and torso trauma," said Betts.
Through their grief, John and Joy Betts have decided
to make it their mission to make sure no other
family has to endure their pain.
"We are convinced seatbelts would have saved the
lives of those boys," said John Betts.
"If they'd had seatbelts, they'd be all right.
They'd be alive, they might have been injured from
things flying around in the bus, but I can't imagine
any boys being dead if they'd been buckled into
their seats," added Joy Betts.
Jim Hall is the former head of the National
Transportation Safety Board and he said for years,
the NTSB has recommended seatbelts in motorcoaches
and for years, the industry has successfully fought
it.
Hall said, "All you have to do is look at the deaths
that have occurred in motorcoaches and they're
primarily caused by ejection of the occupant in the
seat, where the person becomes a human projectile
and it’s a needless loss of life."
Seatbelts on buses have long been debated, whether
on school buses or motorcoaches.
The European Union requires either a lap belt or a
three-point restraint system.
Buses in the U.S. rely on what is called
compartmentalization.
"The seats are high back seats, they've all got
material around [them] and actually when you sit in
here, you're contained in a compartment," said Jimmy
Cantrell of the Georgia Motorcoach Operators
Association.
Cantrell said that he wasn't opposed to seatbelts;
he just thinks buses are safe without them and the
Bluffton accident was an exception.
Federal highway crash studies show most bus
accidents are front and rear-enders and rarely does
the bus flip or land upside down.
Britany Bauschka is a member of the North Georgia
College and State University women's soccer team and
she said, "Right now, we're not having seatbelts and
I think we're doing OK without seatbelts."
Bauschka's school has learned some lessons from the
Bluffton crash and has implemented some changes.
Now, coaches are required to stay alert and make
sure the driver is too.
Many Georgia motorcoach companies are restricting
overnight trips or imposing a surcharge as a
deterrent.
The insurance industry has identified the hours
between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. as the most
dangerous hours for bus drivers to be on the road.
The Bluffton crash occurred around 5:30 a.m.
Coach Grandey said he will head to Florida next
March with his Bluffton baseball team, but their
mode of travel is changing, this time the team is
flying.
During the 2008 season, all of the players that were
on the bus when it crashed will be honored. A
memorial is under construction on the Bluffton
campus and there will be other field enhancements as
a way to remember and move forward.
The Betts family is moving forward as well. They
are now working with their U.S. senator to get
legislation passed on a national level that would
require seatbelts on motorcoaches.
"Passing legislation won't bring the boys back or
ease the day-to-day pain for any of the families,
but I think it has done a lot to honor all of them.
To Cody, to Zach, Tyler, Scott and David, that
they'll know that in the future, people won't be
launched from a 65 mile an hour, 24 ton bus," said
John Betts. |
