Chain Reaction Collision at US Border Checkpoint in New York

North Hudson, New York - Personnel from the USBP were conducting an immigration checkpoint on I-87 near North Hudson, New York, about 74 miles south of the Canadian border. Checkpoint operations required vehicles in both southbound traffic lanes to stop for an inspection and a brief driver interview. As a result, traffic became congested on I-87 southbound and had backed up approximately 807 feet north of the checkpoint. A 1994 Peterbilt combination unit and three passenger vehicles were stopped at the end of the queue in the right lane.

A 2004 Peterbilt truck-tractor, in combination with a 40-foot container chassis semitrailer, loaded with aluminum wire and operated by a 48-year-old truck driver, was approaching the checkpoint at a recorded speed of 59 mph in the posted 65-mph zone. The truck driver, a Canadian national, had departed Boucherville, Quebec, and had driven about 135 miles of an approximate 560-mile trip to York, Pennsylvania. He had driven this trip twice weekly  using this same route on I-87 through northern New York. Reaching the queue of stopped vehicles at the checkpoint, the combination unit failed to stop and collided with a 1990 Honda passenger car. The Honda was pushed underneath a 1999 GMC pickup truck. The pickup truck was pushed off to the right, traveling about 100 feet, where it came to rest facing northbound off the west side of the interstate. The Honda continued forward and to the right, coming to rest approximately 94 feet from the impact area.

The 2004 Peterbilt truck-tractor continued forward and collided with a 1994 GMC pickup truck that was towing a 29-foot Nomad camper trailer. The 1994 GMC pickup truck was pushed forward approximately 100 feet and came to rest at the right side of the 2004 Peterbilt truck-tractor. The 2004 Peterbilt combination unit that initiated the accident sequence traveled approximately 173 feet from the initial impact with the traffic queue to where it stopped in the roadway against the back of a 1994 Peterbilt combination unit. A postaccident fire burned the 1990 Honda, the 1994 GMC pickup truck and camper trailer, and the accident vehicle.

The occupants of the Honda were fatally injured; the driver of the 1994 GMC pickup truck was fatally injured. A passenger in the 1994 GMC pickup truck, the driver of the 1999 GMC pickup truck, and the driver of the 2004 Peterbilt truck-tractor all sustained serious injuries. The driver of the 1994 Peterbilt combination unit was not injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accidents was the failure of the United States Border Patrol and the New York State Department of Transportation to provide adequate warning of the checkpoint’s presence in the southbound lanes of the interstate and to convey a clear, simple message that all vehicular traffic would be required to stop for the checkpoint. Contributing to the North Hudson I accident was the failure of the motorcoach driver to identify the excessive closure rate between his vehicle and the slowed or stopped traffic at the end of the queue. Contributing to the North Hudson II accident was the truck driver’s failure to react to the line of stopped vehicles at the checkpoint, most likely caused by degraded cognitive functioning as a result of his obesity-hypoventilation syndrome and sleep deprivation.

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