Report says driver fatigue caused fatal Chippewa Falls High bus crash

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The National Transportation Safety Board said a truck driver whose overturned rig was hit by a bus near Osseo in 2005 fell asleep at the wheel.

After a hearing yesterday, the agency said fatigue was probably the cause of the Interstate-94 crash that killed five people with the Chippewa Falls High School band.

Last year, prosecutors failed to prove criminal negligence by the trucker.

The state claimed Michael Kozlowski was so tired, he shouldn’t have been driving. But the jury found Kozlowski innocent of 33 criminal charges.

The defense tried to blame bus driver Paul Rasmus, saying he should have been wearing glasses at the time.

Kozlowski was at a late-night drinking party before he took off from Indiana the next morning. He was sending produce to the Twin Cities when his rig overturned, and veered into the opposite lanes and Rasmus struck it in the dark. He was one of the five who died.

The safety board said Rasmus couldn’t see the truck in time to avoid it and if Kozlowski’s truck had technology to detect fatigue, the crash could have been avoided.

The trucker’s lawyer in his criminal case disputed the board’s ruling that Kozlowski fell asleep. The truck driver can challenge the decision if he chooses.

Tags: wisconsin news, chippewa falls bus crash, fatigue