Report on accident in Lavangsdalen, Troms 7 January 2011
Road traffic report 2012/02
On Friday, 7 January 2011, a Suzuki Grand Vitara passenger car carrying the driver and three passengers drove from Tromsø and southwards on E8 through Lavangsdalen. At approximately 1410 hours, the car, first in a line of four, started veering over into the lane with oncoming traffic.
A Volvo coach with a driver and 42 passengers on board were driving in the opposite direction. The coach driver saw the car veering slowly into his lane and tried an evasive manoeuvre to the right, but the crash barrier on the right prevented this. The car and the coach collided on the front left side, with an overlap of approx. 25 cm. The coach’s steering was damaged in the collision, and it therefore veered over into the oncoming lane where it collided front to front with an oncoming minibus carrying a driver and six passengers.
In the first collision, the driver and one passenger in the car died, while one of the passengers was seriously injured. In the collision between the coach and the minibus, three of the passengers in the minibus died, while the driver and the three other passengers were seriously injured. Neither the driver nor the passengers in the coach were seriously injured in the two collisions.
Crash barriers had been put up on both sides of the road. The investigation has uncovered that the barrier’s location in relation to the edge of the road prevented both the driver of the coach and the minibus from making evasive manoeuvres to avoid the two collisions. The barriers also prevented the coach and the minibus from driving off the road during the collisions.
Neither the driver nor the 42 passengers in the coach used safety belts. This resulted in the driver and one passenger being thrown out of the coach when it collided with the minibus. The driver of the coach has stated that he notified the passengers that safety belts should be used before he started driving. None of the passengers noticed this. In addition, the driver did not check to see that the passengers were using safety belts.
The sports teams BUL håndball and Alta IL håndball had leased the coach that was involved in the accident. Neither the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, as the overall authority for sports in Norway, nor BUL håndball have a transport policy to ensure the safety of its members in connection with transport to and from sports events. Alta IL håndball had prepared routines for travel organised by the team. These routines were not complied with as regards use of safety belts.
As a result of this investigation, the AIBN has made two safety recommendations.
Animation of the course of events
Facts
| Location | Lavangsdalen, Troms |
| Occurrence date | 07.01.2011 |
| Accident type | Head-on collision |
| Road class | European road |
| County | Troms |
| Police Disctrict | Troms |
| Vehicle type | Bus or coach, Passenger car |
| Type of Transportation | Passenger transport, Private transport |
| Road region | Northern Region |
| Accident category | Accident with bus |