The husband and father who said he prayed, then bargained, then begged, truly spoke to me about the hopelessness the ones left behind felt. And then to see how his life led him to be a father and husband once again gives us all hope.

I will always remember this accident until my dying day. I was 8 years old when this happened. And this accident is the biggest reason why I have never allowed one drop of alcohol to ever pass my lips. Every driver education student in America needs to see this film. May we never forget May 14th 1988, and the 27 lives lost.

My mother was a bus driver for the Hardin County school district for many years, she helped make this documentary happen, and she actually used my sister, several children from our school, and myself as extras in the reenactment portion of the film. Let me just say, filming it was terrifying as a young child, I couldn’t imagine what being inside the real accident would’ve been like. Sitting there listening to all of the survivors tell their stories to us, so that we would all understand what we were making the documentary for, was the first time in my life I ever knew such tragedies could be real. I knew about 9/11 being a thing, but it just always felt unreal. It definitely made us all a lot more mature after filming was over, and it was a very humbling experience. Thank you and God bless to all those involved. PS: That lady that went out and brought back McDonalds for everyone afterwards, you were the BOMB, seriously you were a super-mom.💕

Wow. That was so moving. My husband passed away after full thickness burns to 70% of his body after a helicopter crash. The only thing that I can take a little comfort from is that he did not have to endure many operations and years of physio therapy, and then would still have been in paid, disfigured and wheelchair bound. May these 27 souls Rest in Peace. And thank you to all who were brave enough to tell their story.

My admiration for each of you who spoke on camera to help communicate the depth of this human tragedy is immeasurable... Thank you... Bravery is surviving such a horrific event and living with what you witnessed... A testament on behalf of those who are no longer with you... 🇿🇦

Some forgave him not because he deserved it ,but because they deserve peace.

I remember being a senior in highschool when we were called to the auditorium to attend a presentation by a guest speaker. A survivor of the accident told us about the fun day he had at the amusement park as a kid with his friends and how on the ride back he was sitting on the edge of his seat with his legs in the aisle of the bus so he could be closer to the girl he liked. It was very clear from the quiver in his voice that the pain was still vivid in his mind despite all the years that had passed. After he finished speaking, they played this documentary for us. Whenever I pass the sign on the highway marking the site of the accident, i always think of the faces i saw in this documentary. I hope they show this in every highschool in the US.

People are stupid. It's one thing to make fun of people, but to laugh at someone because of an injury or handicap is ridiculous! You need to be slapped very hard if you do that!

The background sound is too loud ,i am struggling to hear what people are saying ,sorry .

27 reasons to NEVER drink and drive! Also, new school buses now have the fuel tank placed behind the rear axle AND between the frame rails. This documentary should be mandatory viewing in driver's ed, and needs to be shown at AA meetings.

Seeing that burned out bus on the flat bed trailer with tarps over top is just bone chilling. The real horror is that the victims were still inside the bus at that point. What a terrible and senseless loss of so many promising lives.

Ive been sober 4 years. Sadly the thinking of many ppl who drink and drive is " this will never happen to me". I just thank god i never was in an accident and killed or hurt anyone.

Great documentary, but the back ground music drowns out the people talking. Stop putting music in the background on these stories, it's important to hear the people!

Hearing the accounts of the survivors in other videos, saying the kids were crying for their mothers, broke my heart.

The sentencing laws are totally out of line. He should have got 20 years for each life lost. Drunk driving is not a mistake. It's a choice.

Sitting here in tears, man what an absolute tragedy. The survivor's strength and ability to forgive blows me away. That takes even more inner strength every day to rise above. I honestly haven't got it in me I believe. I'd be consumed by hate and rage. To all those affected, you are all amazing beautiful people. Much love and respect from New Zealand..

Very good documentary. Not sure I could forgive that drunk driver.

Back in 1995 I was Active-Duty U.S. Air Force stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. I was scheduled to attend a week of certification training at Cincinatti Ohio. I decided to make the trip on my 1988 Honda Goldwing motorcycle. On my way to Cincinatti I stopped at this road-side marker identifying this wreck. Really sad for these young people.

Wow - I’m moved to tears! This poignant and impactful video should be shown to people prior to receiving a driver’s license.

I just cannot stand these drunk drivers. When you get in the car knowingly drunk and decide to drive, you are playing with people's lives. And you know they cause all this devastation and these aholes always walk away without a scratch 😡

Watching this documentary was really hard and I feel so bad for all of the families and survivors, but what really gets me is people who take up for the drunk driver. He's a good man. He's a great man. He's a hard worker. He's a good family man, and he's a Christian, oh, ok, so because he's all those things, we shouldn't put his ass in prison? Instead of taking the responsibility that he really should have taken he instead tried to get the jury to focus on the bus, and not his actions on that night, they made it out to be only the buses fault in the trial, instead of putting the blame where it belonged which was on him, Larry Mahoney, absolutely got drunk and drove his friends were so worried about him driving drunk that they took his keys away from him at the bar, but he got them back because he told them he would go straight home, they never should have gave him his keys, back but instead of driving straight home, like he promised he went by the store to do what people to get more beer and was drinking beer as he was driving, and people are still taking up for him that is so vile and disgusting, I hate when people will sit there and go, but he's such a good person, he's this, and he's that when 27 people are killed because of his actions and his actions alone and it's mostly children who were killed but people still support this murderer, that is what he is when are we going to stop taking up for people? It doesn't matter if he's a good person, 99 percent of the time, it doesn't matter, it took that one percent to get drunk and to get on the interstate the wrong way, and hit a church bus, and you better believe that one per cent of him driving drunk should be in prison for the rest of his life, so many people get caught driving drunk all the time, and what do they do about it, not much, oh, yeah, they'll take their license away after getting caught driving drunk so many times they'll take their license away so what? They will drive without their license, I know because I have seen people do it and they're not scared of the police so they get in their cars and drive anyway, and then they're going to traffic court, but yet still not getting in too much trouble, they're not doing any hard time. We have an easy system when it comes to drunk drivers, I know recently some drunk drivers are getting time, but they're still not getting enough time to me. It's not an accident, I'm sorry, but it's not an accident is when someone accidentally gets hurt, they slammed their hand in a door they burned themselves cooking or something like that, and it isn't 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 drinking to where you're so drunk, you're going 𝕥𝕙𝕖 wrong way 𝕠𝕟 the 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕥 2 tractor trailers and other cars, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 finally, hitting a church school bus and killing 27 people, mostly children stop taking up for these people. I don't care if he's a Christian, I don't buy that he is, or he would have known better stop taking up for these people, he should be in prison for the rest of his life, and for anybody who backs him 𝕠𝕣 supports him and takes up for 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 likely y'all have 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 drinking and decided to drive I do believe that 𝕊𝕄ℍ. 𝕋𝕠 all the families, I am so incredibly sorry for your loss, and I'm keeping y'all in my prayers. I remember this when it first happened, and it broke on TV, and I cried back then, and I cried again tonight when I saw it again, God bless y'all, I agree with the dad who lost his entire family, he didn't blame it on 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, he blamed it on the drunk driver, no doubt Ford should have made sure their buses were safe, but the bus would have never 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 on fire in the first place if the drunk driver, Larry Mahoney wouldn't have hit him. He was drunk. He should die in prison God bless all of the families.

I can not believe The defense lawyer would sit there and say none of the people died because of Maloney, it was all the buses fault. What??? That bus wouldn’t have caught fire if he didn’t drink on the road side of the road drunk and crash into the bus.

This is one of the reasons even if I only have one drink I do not drive I do not want to be responsible for someone else’s death

My heart broke hearing the pain in their stories. I can't imagine what they've endured. All those survivors and the loved ones who grieve for their family and friends daily...God bless and keep you, always.

These kids that have to suffer with these horrific burns, scars, and pain, these kids are strong. Amazing they kept pushing and lived life. I cant imagine the emotional pain and suffering they have endured for all these years

You didn’t sell out taking money, you deserve it to take care of yourself!

I've passed that accident spot on I-71 many times, as the location is marked by a sign, and it's very eerie and isolated. These old school buses wind up in Guatemala and elsewhere, and they do not have the exits now required by law.

I stopped drinking about 11 years ago i’m so happy that I did quit too many drunk drivers. Back in 1984 here in Albuquerque new Mexico there was a family of mom dad and three daughters Christmas Eve on the freeway not sure where they were going but someone driving drunk driving the wrong way went hit on with the family, Killing the mom and the three little girls and the father survived sad sad day. Stop drinking and driving people stop it’s not worth it.

I drove for our local school system for many many years. The buses are a bit safer now, cages around our fuel tanks, integrated seats. But I only drive Internationals!! I always felt the safest in my 66 passenger international. I had a country route so I had a total of 24 kids…… I knew EXACTLY where to sit each kiddo for the safest possible seating arrangement. God bless those babies that were lost🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼❤ I would do safety drills every two months….. just to keep it fresh in their minds if what to do, how to use the radio if something was to happen to me, how to pull my safety (air) break, our clear out time was down to 32 seconds!! Those kiddos could HUSSLE!!!

First time I've ever heard of this horrendous crash. Unbelievable so many people and mostly young adults, children. Wow all because somebody couldn't leave their car when he'd been drinking, absolutely disgusting. I'm sorry but I could never forgive him if my child had died in that crash in fact I'd want to rip him apart with my hands. RIP to all the people that lost their lives that day 🙏

Please please stop thismusic and sound effects so we can hear what people are saying!

I was so thrilled to locate this documentary. Exquisitely done. My husband was stationed with Jim Nunnallee at Mather AFB in CA. We even had Jim and Karolyn over for dinner in our apartment once. [Karolyn = a strong Southern woman and lots of fun.] Years later when we were stationed in England, my mother in Cincinnati wrote me about the crash. Of course, then I had no idea that one of the Nunnallee's two daughters had perished in the crash. An additional couple years down the road... when we were stationed in FL, I retrieved my People Magazine from the mailbox one day; proceeded into the house to read it; and very shortly let out a bloodcurdling scream! There was the article about Karolyn, the new MADD President. So like Karolyn to take charge! [Jim was serving as an Liaison Officer with the Army then.] More years down the road.... In '96 we moved back to Cincinnati. This tragic unnecessary accident has grieved me so very much. Every time we pass the highway sign marking the site of the accident, I think of Jim and Karolyn, their never ending grief, and always say a prayer for them. God Bless.

The resilience and strength of all these people is heart warming. May they all live a long and happy life.

I’m so glad this is here I just saw it on Amazon prime for the first time. I’m going to share it with everyone I know.

I first learned of this tragedy when driving to Tennessee. I saw the sign on the interstate.

This event was a horrible tragedy but I hate to say it but life does go on for the survivors. These survivors are all heros. They are strong beyond words. They have had the guts to get on with their lives, to strive and push through the pain they experienced. Those who perished that day are remembered and loved by their families. God bless them all......

The drunk driver was originally given the death sentence in the electric chair by the judge and prosecutors. The jury decided against it

This one really hit me in the chest. I knew the Williams family when they attended church in Texas where I was. I will never forget hearing about this. It was like my heart was ripped out.

What a ludicrous statement from Mahoney's lawyer! Callous and heartless explanation of 'why the people died' on the bus and NOT "well if Mahoney hadn't been drinking and driving, there NEVER would have been a collision in the first place that horrifically killed 27 of the peope on the bus"!! It's ALWAYS too late to apologize afterwards for what occurred. Had the law been obeyed in the first place that clearly states "do NOT drink alcohol and drive", they all would have made it home to their families.

The destruction that man caused is immeasurable. What a selfish pos. To drink to oblivion and get in your car is premeditated murder as far as I’m concerned. You know the risk. It’s been drilled in us for years. How many more decades do we have to tell people to not Drink and drive. People still do it daily. Wtf? He should have never been let out of jail. And why is it these pos drinks always survive?!

This documentary really touched my heart ❤️ although it broke it in half 💔 and I’m in tears 😭 I do remember hearing about this terrible accident on the TV. It’s so special that the one couple got together and fell in love… because the gentleman got a family again‼️🙏💜❤️😇

Wow! Heartbreaking! 1:18:11 I had that exact same Esprit sweatshirt! Those were the good old days.

My gosh this was well made! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks to all involved in this documentary. I rode a school bus all 12 years.4 of those years,our most excellent bus driver gave regular safety drills,where we went out the windows an backdoor. Older ones were assigned responsibilities : man the fire extiguisher, turn off the engine if the driver was disabled...help the younger ones off...though I doubt drills like what I was put thru would have helped in this situation, I couldn't help thinking of those drills as I watched this...this occurred over 10 year after I was out of school, so I rode on an older bus. Do they do drills on busses? Do they do drills on church buses? I'm not saying anything could have been done to save more lives at that time due to the fire. But awareness to how to open emergency doors and windows could perhaps save lives in the future?

Bless these people for turning their loss into a betterment for all of our children.

Mrs.Nunnally is a warrior. No matter what anyone says. I’ve heard people call her everything. She understands that nothing is going to bring her daughter back but she fought tooth and nail for safe buses and drunk driving laws.

So it was the bus fault that it blew up, not the drunk driver who drove the wrong way and was over twice the alcohol limit that triggered the whole event killing innocent lives and hurting the survivors for life? Lawyer should go to jail too.

Every one of those killed was younger than I am now. For the oldest person, it has been approximately the same time from the bus crash until now that he got to live his life.

Christ this is a really hard watch.

This 'model prisoner' stuff needs to stop. Sentenced to 16 yrs. for 27 lives? Yet, he only served 9 & half years! He refuses to address any of the parents or survivors. His choice I guess for being a model citizen. 🤔

Listening to these people defend him makes me beyond angry. He is 100% at fault and should have been jailed and never released. His lawyer is a disgusting piece of dirt. 😢

This is one of the most upsetting DD stories I have ever heard, seen or read. God help all involved that they still continue to heal both in and out.

Thank you very much for this documentary very inspirational I hope many will take from this not to drink and drive

This is so sad 😢😢😢. The survivors are remembering the horror accident😢.

This documentary had all of my emotions flowing. Sad tears, happy tears. I pray that all of those involved in this tragedy are living a happy complete life. God bless each one!

The best part of this: Someone will watch this and decide not to drive after drinking today. The worst part of this: Someone will watch this and decide to drive after drinking because they think, "this would never be me". This will continue to happen as long as we allow an obviously drunken person, with obviously impaired thinking, to make a CHOICE about whether to drive or not after drinking. Their thinking is impaired, and it's not a choice they should be left to make. I don't have the perfect answer, but I think it should start with the sale of alcohol to people that are noticeably already impaired.

Yes fords bus wasn't fully safe, but this man drove drunk, he decided to tske back his keys after they were taken away, he stopped and got MORE alcohol, he made the choice to then drive on the interstate. He needs to pay for this shit end of story. Stop defending him

He made the choice to drink and drive so he IS to blame! He went the wrong way on the highway! He hit that bus! The bus might have been made unsafe, but that was how they were made at that time, but he stopped and got more alcohol to drink in his truck while he was driving the wrong way on the highway! Would he have wanted to hurt and kill those children and adults on that bus…no I don’t think so! So you as a lawyer (now that I say with anger) defend him by saying judges, police and lawyers drink and drive, it’s lawyers like you that make me sick to my stomach!!! That man wanted to express his sorrow and you wouldn’t let him say anything which made him seem heartless when he was also dying inside! You are a creep!

My heart goes out to the survivors & their families bc the losses they feel are immeasurable. The sadness that envelops them when they least expect it cannot be felt by others though they try to understand. I liked what the Psychologist said about the internal scars not shown on the outside, that one must be careful when one wishes they could be seen. My Mom (RIP) used to say it's a shame mental health issues can't be physically seen bc the stigma would disappear. I awake to my physical scars that I catch people staring at. They are my battle scars, the fight I had to face bc of narcissistic abuse. They are a part of the canvas that makes up my life story.

The woman offered to settle for a dollar if Ford would recall, and retrofit all the old busses gas tank with protection, create bigger opening windows, and other safety features. Ford refused. She should have gone to the press with that, considering that all the children would have survived if everything in the bus had not been designed to kill them, including toxic seat covers.

😢😢😢😢 I was in 10th grade in high school when this happened The horror is still with me today 😢

Mahoney’s Attorney sounds so dumb literally trying to make excuses for this man HE IS TO BLAME AND HE NEEDS TO PAY!! He chose to drink and drive he was on the wrong lane you don’t blame these innocent victims for something none of them could’ve controlled except for Mahoney he made the wrong choice and now he’s paying for it idc who you’re you drink and drive you’re always putting yourself and other ppls lives in danger 😡😒

This broke my Heart. I remember when terrible thing happened. I will continue to pray for you all

Thank you for this moving film.

The Lord instructs us to forgive each other and He makes no bones about it. If we expect our Creator to forgive us we must forgive each other. I believe that comes with time and maturity.

I remember this crash ! I was an 18-wheeler driver long haul, and the lying media across the country said a trucker caused the crash!!!! It was a pickup truck!!!!! I went through hell on the road on the southeast highways!!! That was 1989 and I still hate it!!!

This touched me . We need this in theaters ❤

The cage for that particular bus on that lift was defective.....there was nothing there covering the bottom of the fuel tank. That bus would've caught fire too in a similar accident. That bus was fine until someone being stupid hit it. I'm a retired school bus driver and the dangers now are even greater due to inattentive motorists messing with their cell phones are creating an even bigger hazard to school buses and the kids riding them. Then you have school districts literally putting drivers and students on ice on days they should've cancelled classes due to inclement weather. Three years before I retired I was excited when I was informed by my supervisor that I would be getting a brand new bus. Lo and behold the day we did our dry runs (running our routes with no kids on board) I was told I was gonna need to learn to pretrip my new bus. I thought that was weird until I realized that the mechanics was showing me how to pre trip out new gasoline powered buses. I thought they was illegal after what happened in Kentucky. But our school district was phasing out the diesel buses due to the extreme costs of trying to maintain the newer diesels with the Diesel Exhaust Fluid systems......of which had caused massive damage to the engines.....and be out of action for weeks due to lengthy repairs. Lastly when I was in elementary school I road school buses just like the Ford B700 and we never had a problem. Those buses where reliable and eventually died of old age. This is why I respectfully disagree with Ford being blamed and the defective cage shown in the video wouldn't have held up especially with the bottom of the tank exposed. Although I'll never understand why it took so long for additional emergency exits to be added. Should've been done a long time ago regardless of how a bus is equipped. I can also tell you there are other pieces of equipment that should be mandatory on school buses but isn't. Another ridiculous fact......after getting my new gasoline powered bus.....that held 65 gallons of premium......but our highway patrol wouldn't allow us to carry a little bottle of hand sanitizer. Yeah you read that correctly. You cannot make up that level of stupidity. Therein lies part of the problem. God bless you all richly.

This is probably a good video, but I can't hear the people because the music is too loud..oh well

So sad! I wish theyd shut that music off!

What amazing forgiving people especially the girl that wrote to him and then visited him. Beautiful people

" if there's anyway possible he could have avoided that bus he would have" well there was.. He could have Gone Straight home like he had promised his friends, he could have just accepted that his Friends took his Keys. Also, the friends that Gave back his Keys, WTF. I wonder if any of them felt any Guilt or responsibility

May God rest the souls of those who died such a horrific death, and may He have mercy on the drunk driver.

why is the BUS on the wrong side of the road in the example of the scene at 32:57 ???

Heart breaking. God bless them all.

The Carrollton bus tragedy is tied with the Prestonsburg, KY school bus accident with 26 students and bus driver killed in 1958, 30 years prior.

He should not have drank and driven but the bus was faulty to I understand the people that are left to feel that way I would have too but bitterness will eat away slowly and I hope they can somehow deal with it

Powerful

Absolutely heartbreaking

Sad brought tears to my eyes

Life is just so really it takes everything just to stay on point and a person must really give their best mn mean it by their efforts. And hard worker to have a life.

Waiting

May all yall families rest in peace.

Every time I see a school bus I think about this. I was an Assemblies of God kid, a trip to the theme park every year was such a treat. They did not die in vain. I thank the Nunnalees and Fairs for pushing for tougher drunk driving laws, and for making Ford and Sheller Globe pay for knowingly putting our kids on unsafe buses. God Bless the families and friends who I know still suffer today.

Sad documentary, shame the sound is so messed up with that background music at times drowning out people speaking.

Growing up in the area you drive past a sign on the shoulder that KDOT put up marking the exact spot on I-71 where the wreck happened. Every bit of this is heartbreaking but Ford Motor choosing to pay out settlement money than recalling & making those buses safer is disturbing to say the least.

It's a heartbreaking situation. For everyone involved in the accident. Even the drunk driver. He made a bad choice but it's not what killed the victims. A gas tank that wasn't properly installed on the bus was the reason. I feel sorry for all of them. RIP to the victims and their families. After all these years they deserve peace and strength to overcome this tragedy

The music??? I cant hardly hear what there saying.

The music is too loud cutting out the people talking! who edited this!?

Drinking and driving. Probably one of the most selfish thing’s you can do. God bless the victims and their families So sad 😢

I feel for the woman that lost her leg. She’s very angry, I hope she has gotten help with that.

I have enormous respect for the Mothers Against Drink Driving and the work they do. I’m from Scotland and in 1998 I was 20. I lost 2 friends that year to drunk drivers. One was hit from behind as she walked home - she was blown to pieces and a father with his young son found the scattered remains of her. The driver did not stop. He continued his journey and went to a party. When the police got to him he denied it. His passenger told the truth though. Another friend was killed when a drunk driver hit his car head on. This was on Boxing Day 1998. That drunk driver still lives in the are and still thinks he did nothing wrong. Drink drivers ARE responsible for the murder of victims caused by their actions…..never mind what Mahoney’s lawyer says.

Wow.

I was trying so hard to watch this. But the background music and sound effects drown out the people telling their story.

Survivors true heroes..show what it means to be true christian...forgiveness..but never forget. You helped strengthen my faith

Those people cheering on the drunk driver and holding up signs saying how they loved him were disgusting. I understand he had friends who cared about him but you need to use better judgement than that.

His soul is still suffering. Dont hate anymore

Face Up! "To meet your destiny you must be careful to make the right choices because you may only have one chance" -Patricia Susan Nunnalee, Scholar

Rest in peace😢

That was good. It hits hard in a good way.