1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision
| 1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | May 13, 1972 c. 5:35 a.m. (EDT) |
| Location | U.S. Route 11W 5.2 mi (8.4 km) west from Bean Station, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 36°19′52″N 83°22′08″W / 36.33111°N 83.36889°W |
| Country | United States |
| Operator | Greyhound |
| Incident type | Head-on collision |
| Cause | Operator error, distracted driving |
| Statistics | |
| Bus | 1 |
| Vehicles | 1 (tractor-trailer) |
| Passengers | 27 (bus), 1 (tractor-trailer) |
| Deaths | 14 |
| Injured | 15 |
The 1972 Bean Station bus-truck collision was a head-on collision involving a double-decker Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer on U.S. Route 11W in Grainger County, Tennessee, that occurred near the town of Bean Station on the morning of May 13, 1972.
Ultimately resulting in 14 deaths, the collision is the deadliest and one of the worst in the history of Tennessee. The collision led to outcry from politicians and citizens calling for traffic safety and infrastructure improvements, such as highway widenings, and the completion of Interstate 81 in Tennessee.