NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS UP TO DEC. 2003

15th Anniversary of Deadly Bus Crash

Today is the somber 15th anniversary of the worst ever bus crash in America.

It happened in Kentucky on May 14, 1988. A school bus full of children and their chaperones was returning to Hardin County from a trip to King's Island when a pickup truck driven by a drunk driver slammed into the bus.

24 young people and three adults were killed in the fiery crash. Today, many survivors are in Washington, DC calling for a nationwide moment of silence and for new rules to cut down on drunk driving.

Larry Mahoney, who caused the crash, had a blood alcohol level of .24. Mahoney lives now on an unmarked rural road in Owen County.

He served ten years and eleven months in the Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange before he was released on September 1, 1999.

Less than three weeks after his release, Mahoney married Kimberly Kay Frederick, of Burlington.

People familiar with Mahoney say he and Frederick were dating before the accident. Mahoney has never spoken publicly about the crash.

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