In 1971 J. Standard Baker Quoted " Drivers Towing Trailers  Are Four (4) Times As Unsafe As Those In Cars Alone! 

6 students, driver injured in school bus crash near Levan
By Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com  |  Posted Sep 6th, 2017 @ 6:22pm

LEVAN — Six students and a bus driver were injured in a bus crash near Levan Wednesday, a school official said.

Juab School District Superintendent Rick Robins confirmed the injuries via Twitter. One student had a broken arm and the bus driver was transported to a Nephi hospital, Robins said.

Juab School District bus 990 and a truck was involved in the crash, Robins said.

At 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, a GMC Yukon hauling a camper trailer was traveling northbound on state Route 28 when the trailer started to sway, pulling the vehicle out of its travel lane, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

The bus was traveling south at the same location. The side of the camp trailer struck the front of the school bus, damaging both vehicles, UHP said.

The driver of the bus and one student were transported to the Central Valley Medical Center in Nephi by ambulance. Two other students were transported to the hospital by personal vehicles, according to UHP.

The students were treated with minor injuries. The bus driver had serious injuries to his head and face and was later airlifted from the hospital in Nephi to Utah Valley Hospital. There were no injuries to the people in the Yukon, UHP said.

Another bus was brought to the scene and students on the bus who were not injured were being transported to their normal bus stops or their residences.

SR 28 between Nephi and Levan was closed due to the crash. Juab County officials were asking drivers to use an alternate route.

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Ignored Comments By Our Public Safety Officials Note: Lets See How Long These Last On The News Page Before They Pull Them In order to hide the truth.

Nobodiesfool · 2 days ago
Thankfully this was not worse, hope everyone recovers quickly as possible. Luck bus driver. Please when pulling a trailer use the correct equipment, the life saved possibly could be your own.
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rwatson_63 · 2 days ago
With as many inexperienced and unskilled drivers ove seen pulling trailers with light vehicles, along with obvious ignorance in proper tongue load, I think it may be about time to add a trailer endorsement to a regular class D license with both a knowledge and skills test......
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richris · 2 days ago
I totally agree!
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Shurnuff · 2 days ago
Where do you draw the line? A tiny little tent trailer? A 4x6 cargo trailer that weighs 150 lbs? A motorcycle trailer?
Batmans · 2 days ago
While that sounds like a good idea, I think we have enough ways that the state gouges trailer owners. Most people owning and operating trailers are paying enough in registration fees every year. Let's just all remember to be safe while on the road.
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Teivel · 2 days ago
@ Shurnuff
Easy, all trailers with 2 or more axles requires an endorsements
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rwatson_63 · 2 days ago
@ Batmans. My suggestion has nothing to do with fees and everything to do with safety. Far to many untrained and unskilled people run out and purchase a trailer with ZERO idea of the physics involved in properly loading, towing, and backing a trailer. Light trailer accidents are far to common and often result in needless injury and death, not to mention property damage. If you can't afford a $15 fee for an added endorsement to a drivers license, you have no business owning and towing a trailer.


I'm a mobile diesel mechanic by trade and sole proprietor of my own business, and I also drive part time (professionally) for a couple clients. As such I pay for 4 extra endorsements at $15/each, plus have to submit to a medical exam every two years to insure I'm medically fit to be in the seat and operate a rig.....to the tune of $100/biannually...


I ain't whining about costs...
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Angryagain68 · 1 day ago
ALL trailers. From, pulled behind a motorcycle to one of those monstrous road clogging fifth wheel toy box campers. What's wrong with an extra endorsement? five extra bucks and a simple test, after reading 3 to 5 pages in a driving handbook?
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Jjustino · 1 day ago
Perhaps requiring all travel trailers to be towed using an equalizer hitch or other anti-sway bar setup would be sufficient. It is night and day the difference of towing with my equalizer hitch vs without.
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Teivel · 2 days ago
I also think sway bars should be mandatory on campers
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Jamie F. · 2 days ago
And instructions on how to use them. Far too many people do NOT understand how sway bars and equalizer hitches work. It takes more than just installing one.
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Jeff J. · 2 days ago
Glad there weren't any fatalities. My dad always hated pulling our trailer on that stretch in the 70's & 80's.
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Greybuck · 1 day ago
Yes. That part between Levan and Nephi was known as the "death strip" before I-15 was finished.
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Gary W. · 2 days ago
Wow, that trailer came apart like it was held together with chewing gum. Hope for a speedy recovery of the injured.
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TommyTwoTone · 2 days ago
The trailers these days are not built very well. I have an eighteen foot trailer and I'm amazed at how cheap the materials they're made with are, it's kind of embarrassing when you start looking at them up close especially for the money they want to buy one. Cheaply made doesn't speak well of our capabilities in this country making RV's. I'll never buy another trailer or camper, and that's a fact.
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Shurnuff · 2 days ago
The American RV industry desperately needs some foreign competition like our auto manufacturers got from Toyota in the 70s. It's sickening the lack of quality in the RV industry. Because there is no competition, they make RVs like GM made cars in the 80s.
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9erfan · 2 days ago
You get what you pay for! I agree that a lot of RV's are not built well, but many are. I own a Montana fifth wheel and the quality is excellent. When I bought my fifth wheel quality came before a low price. If you pay 20k for an RV you are going to get junk. If you buy quality brands you are going to pay more, but it is well worth it.
dgn g. · 2 days ago
I own a 1975 horse trailer that's more durable and tows better than the new $25-30k ones. Ugly!!!
I stay out of the passing lane and never go faster than 60MPH. I see people with overpriced horses
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Wow!! · 1 day ago
9erfan.... Just asking, with your High Dollar trailer, )Congratulations BTW).. But do you Pull your $30k+ RV with your Half Ton truck??? That is the Problem!!
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YOUTS · 2 days ago
Um, I agree that many trailers are not built very sturdy, however this trailer was hit by a 30,000 pound moving bus. If both vehicles were going 40 mph at the time it would be like hitting it at 80 mph while it was sitting still in the middle of the road. Seeing that much damage to the bus makes me think that the trailer was fairly solid.
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FlatTop · 2 days ago
Actually no, physics doesn't work that way 40mph+40mph=80mph and that is a commonly perpetuated myth. There is no difference between a car hitting a stationary wall vs hitting another vehicle head on also traveling 40 miles per hour. Same exact damage. Google it.
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YOUTS · 1 day ago
FlatTop, You are correct, the 40+40=80 is too simple to actually explain the physics of the accident. However, if the trailer had been stationary, the damage to both the trailer and the bus would have been much less because the trailer is not an immovable object. The force of the bus would have been somewhat absorbed by the stationary trailer because the energy would have been transferred into pushing the trailer. Hitting a stationary wall would have done the same amount of damage to the bus because a wall would be immovable. The fact that the trailer was in motion, it's kinetic energy essentially made it an immovable object. Think about it this way- if you could see in your mirror that a car was about to rear end you and you are at a dead stop, should you push hard on the brake, or let your foot off the brake? Which will cause more damage?
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Boss · 2 days ago
I see so many people pulling trailers going way too fast and the trailer starts swaying back and forth. I don't understand why people think speeding and pulling a trailer is a good combination. It's probably the same people who won't slow down in the winter because they own a four wheel drive.
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RankAmatuer · 2 days ago
That looks like a lot of trailer for that tow vehicle. Applying just the trailer brakes pulls it out of the sway.
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Rick J. · 1 day ago
A Yukon is not a bad platform for a trailer that size at all. With a properly set up hitch, there shouldn't be a problem. The trailer is well within the towing specifications of the truck. Knowing the dynamics of the crash would be useful (braking, wind gust, driver attentiveness, hitch setup).
Loftier-Lore · 2 days ago
Trailers sway when there is more weight behind the trailer axles than in front of the axles. Load the front more than the rear.
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Bre A. · 2 days ago
Just want to say thanks to all the Levan,Nephi and Juab county emergency services including: EMS,UHP,Fire,county police and anyone else there helping. And thank you to Mr. Peterson for doing the best job he could do to keep our babies safe, we wish him a speedy recovery.
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Jeremy H. · 2 days ago
Maybe the trailer brakes weren't even hooked up? Way too many people don't even bother with them.

Either way, best thing you can do if your trailer starts to sway is hit the brakes. This will momentarily throw weight to the tongue. Get it slowed way down. Then pull off the road and adjust your tongue weight.
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ken h. · 2 days ago
Trailer brakes and sway bars are the way to go. I see to many people pulling trailers that you just want to speed away from. The nose of the vehicle up in the air and the back end almost dragging flying down the freeways. Safety must be first priority in all cases.
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Mat W. · 2 days ago
Yea the trailer towing is a issue. The real issue I see is that our school busses that transport the world's most precious cargo [OUR KIDS] still do not have SEAT BELTS and are not required by law to have them. This needs to change now.
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toad · 2 days ago
I Hope everyone heals quickly. I am glad School Buses are so big and heavy. This story could have been so much worse. There needs to be more public education regarding trailer weight distribution, and proper use of anti sway hitches.
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Jan M. · 1 day ago
Towing a trailer can be very dangerous. Too many trailer owners do not perform proper maintenance on their trailers, resulting in accidents.
RockyMountainHorseman · 1 day ago
Do they have seat belts on school buses yet ?
YOUTS · 1 day ago
Seatbelts on school buses is not the answer. Buses are made to protect the cargo inside. There is a potential for up to 84 children in a school bus. If a bus is in an accident and it catches fire, do you expect that a bus driver will be able to get up to 84 panicked 1st graders out of a burning bus? What if the bus is on it's side, or upside down and the pressure on the belts is too much for a small child to release? What if your child decides not to wear the provided seat belt? Who is to blame?
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YourMomGoes2College · 1 day ago
As a parent, I would be upset if my kid was assumed uninjured and not taken to the hospital and xrayed at the time. So often people actually get injured in accidents, fractured vertebrae and such but because of adrenaline they think they are ok and they often don't get checked out until later and its hard to prove its accident related then. Just sayin.

"People who tow are 4 times more likely to have an accident and kill other innocent people" Ron J. Melancon