NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2007

Report Says Brakes to Blame in Anoka County Bus Accident
March 30, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS -- Brake failure is to blame for the December school bus crash in Anoka County that sent 18 children to the hospital and put one woman in a coma, state investigators said.

The State Patrol on Wednesday blamed modifications involving the brake booster -- which provides auxiliary braking power -- that were made Sept. 18 after the bus was found to have leaking brake seals.

About two months after the crash, the State Patrol asked school districts across Minnesota to shut down any GMC or Chevrolet bus that had undergone a specific brake-system modification that the patrol said could lead to brake failure.

Seven other buses owned by Kottke's Bus Service, the company involved in the crash, were found to have the same modifications and were taken out of service and repaired.

Sgt. Paul Davis, an investigator, said Kottke's took a pedal rod out of an older GM booster and used it in a new, less-expensive International booster but had to modify it to make it fit.

Kottke's general manager Mike Pipenhagen said written directions in parts boxes explained how to do such modifications, which the company performed and then tested to make sure that they worked.

"Our business practice is to find the best part for the best price, and we thought we were doing that," he said. "We weren't out to put an inferior product in our bus just to save a few dollars. We've been in business nearly 60 years, and we didn't stay in business that long by jeopardizing the safety of our passengers to save money."

Patrol Capt. Ken Urquhart said no charges will be filed against the bus driver. The Anoka County Sheriff's Office and the county attorney continue to review the bus company's role.

After the Dec. 8 accident in Ham Lake, bus driver Seth Withers told investigators that his brakes turned "rock hard" that morning as he tried to turn the bus, carrying 41 students to McKinley Elementary School. Withers said he swerved to avoid two vehicles but hit both of them before the bus struck a traffic pole and came to a stop.

Tammy Weber, 38, of Ham Lake, was the most severely injured when the bus hit her sport-utility vehicle at the intersection of Highway 65 and Constance Boulevard. She continues to recover.

Associated Press

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