The Deadliest Car Crashes In History

While it is true that most motor vehicle accidents do not result in fatalities, those that do can often be dramatic. Car crashes form the basis of modern nightmares, featuring severed limbs, high octane explosions, and uncontrolled cars hurtling down cliffs. But these nightmares are sadly too often the stuff of visceral reality. Some of these lethal tragedies are notable for the incredible number of lives that they took. Yet, are mass fatalities on the road a thing of the leaded-fuel era? Have roads become safer than they were in the past? Not necessarily.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the first half of 2021 showed the largest percentage increase in motor vehicle fatalities since 2006 with over 20,000 fatalities on America's roads. The U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said, "This is a crisis." This rise in automotive fatalities probably correlates to drivers indulging in more dangerous habits during the pandemic such as speeding and not wearing safety belts.

So be sure to buckle your safety belts and make sure your airbags are fully operational as we careen down the tragic road of looking at a selection of some of the deadliest car crashes in history.

On the night of December 4, 1951, in Gillingham, Kent, in the United Kingdom, a column of cadets marched along an unlit section of Dock Road. They were heading from their base to the Royal Naval Barracks. According to Kent Online, these were boys between the ages of 9 and 13. While the rigors of cadet life were no doubt daunting, it could in no way prepare them for the tragedy to come.

As the boys were marching, John Samson was driving a double decker bus down the road. Samson himself claimed to be driving between 15 to 20 miles per hour. However this seems unlikely, since Samson plowed into the column. 24 boys were killed and another 18 injured. None were injured on the bus.

The tragedy reached a national scale. The Independent reported that King George and Winston Churchilll sent condolences to the victims' families, and Parliament investigated the matter. In 1993, a memorial was erected for the victims. As for Samson, he was fined but not given jail time. The justice stated, "You are a man of good character ... it would be absurd to send you to prison. Everyone who has heard this case feels the greatest sympathy not only with the parents and relatives of these unfortunate children but also with you." Samson never drove again.

The most spectacularly lethal car crash occurred at the celebrated 24-hour race at Le Mans on June 11, 1955. As described by GQ, confusion and disaster erupted on the 35th lap of the competition. Racer Mike Hawthorn in a Jaguar was engaged against British driver Lance Macklin when he was flagged to come to the pits. Hawthorn braked and swerved toward the pit, causing Macklin to careen in the path of French driver Pierre Levegh. Levegh, who was doing 150 mph in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR, flew up the back of Macklin's Austin Healey and rocketed up and off the track. Levegh flew backward out of the racecar where he was killed immediately on the track. As for his vehicle, it burst into fiery shrapnel which flayed the spectators. There was such battle-like carnage that ad banners were used as makeshift stretchers to haul casualties out. 

Including Levegh, 83 were killed and many others injured. The race, however, continued on – ostensibly because it was felt that if it were called off all the spectators would block the needed ambulances. Hawthorn ended up winning the race. The tragedy was such that according to History, Germany and Switzerland canceled their Grand Prix races for that year while Mexico and Spain temporarily banned motor racing.

The worst school bus disaster in U.S. history occurred in Prestonburg, Kentucky. On February 28, 1958, conditions were ripe for an accident. According to the National Guard, rains from the prior night had led to a cloudy and chill morning. In these conditions, a Floyd County school bus carrying 48 elementary and high school students was proceeding down Route 23 when it slammed into the back of a wrecker truck. The bus careened off the road and down an embankment where it belly flopped into the swollen waters of the Big Sandy River's Levisa Fork. 

WKYT, in recalling the tragedy, reported that 22 students were able to escape the bus. However, as the vehicle floated down the river, it slowly sank. Despite search and rescue efforts by Navy divers and the National guard, 26 children and the bus driver were lost. This school bus tragedy was only equaled by the 1988 bus disaster in Carrollton, Kentucky, which the Courier Journal reported involved a converted school bus used by a church group. It was slammed head-on by an intoxicated driver who was driving the wrong way on Route 71. In that incident, the drunk driver, Larry Mahoney, survived and served 10 years in prison.

Buses are unique in fatal car crashes since they offer the highest density of victims. The United Kingdom suffered its worst such accident at the Dibbles Bridge near Hebden in North Yorkshire. According to the BBC, a bus carrying women who were on a daytrip to the Yorkshire Dales was rolling along at a high rate of speed when the road curved and came to the bridge. At that moment, the brakes on the bus failed and it plunged 16 feet (as reported by Yorkshire Live) over the side of the bridge. The vehicle fell upside down into a garden next to a cottage. 

Lincoln Seligman, who was staying at the cottage and the first to witness the carnage, was reported by the BBC as stating, "At the time I hadn't seen death, but to then see 20 or 30 scattered people on the grass after they had been pulled out was pretty shocking." 33 perished in the Dibbles Bridge disaster, including the driver. Only 13 survived. Every year, a moment of silence is held at the nearby town of Thornaby-on-Tees in memory of the victims.

Perhaps the most spectacularly deadly car crash occurred in Ife, Nigeria, in 2000. As reported by CNN, a gasoline tanker lost control of its brakes and spun into a line of vehicles on the Ibadan-Ife Highway. The AP News further reported that the vehicles were in line at a toll booth who had no idea that a truck carrying flammable liquids was hurtling right at them. The tanker, which had just passed through a police check, crashed into the cars and spilled its fuel which promptly set off a massive explosion. The fire spread from car to car, extending to a 3-mile radius, incinerating at least 15 cars and killing up to 150 people, which also included roadside merchants. 

According to the UPI, allegations were made that the police roadblock which had stopped the truck was actually set up to extort bribes and that it may have been culpable somehow in the disaster. The full extent of the deaths and destruction is unclear except that the Ife gasoline truck disaster is probably the worst loss of life in the history of automotive crashes.

The deadliest limousine crash occurred in Schoharie, New York. As reported by NPR, on October 6, 2018, Axel Steenburg rented a 2001 Ford Excursion Limo to celebrate his wife's 30th birthday. While en route to a brewery, the limo's brakes failed on a downhill stretch. It flew down the road, reaching 100 miles per hour, running through a T-intersection, and careening past by a small store where it took out two bystanders before plunging into a ravine. In total, 20 people, including the driver, were killed.

Subsequent investigation showed that the limousine had reported brake issues the month before. However, the operator, Nauman Hussain, allowed the limo to continue to operate. He was charged with 20 counts of 2nd degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. According to the Democrat & Chronicle, he pled guilty and received a sentence of five years probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Many saw this sentence as too lenient, but the judge stated, "It just does not seem right that 20 people lost their life and the sentence is probation and community service. But there are factual issues with regard to the defendant's guilt."

One of the deadliest crashes on record involved shampoo, oddly enough. On November 7, 2021, at 12:45 p.m. as reported by Truckerworld, a truck hauling shampoo base was heading to a set of toll booths along the Mexican Federal Highway which connects Mexico City with Puebla state. The Guardian reported that as the truck drew nearer on a very long downward slope to the tolls, the brakes of the transport failed. 

The Mexico Daily Post reported that the vehicle slammed into six cars and dragged them while releasing over 50 gallons of a flammable white fluid (it is unclear if this was the shampoo base) which caused a terrible explosion. Six cars and the truck were reduced to cinders as 19 people, including the driver of the truck were killed. Three were injured. Shocking videos of the disaster made the rounds on social media.