Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2006 Huntsville bus accident

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus, defaulting to keep. Can't sleep, clown will eat me 05:02, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 2006 Huntsville bus accident

Non-notable car accident. Wikipedia is not a news source, and Notability is not temporary. Unless a reasonable claim of notability can be added, this fails for inclusion at List of road accidents, and thus for Wikipedia.

• Delete as nominator. Circeus 21:26, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete an unfortunate event, but untimately little different than gazillions of other road accidents. The four fatalities does make this a closer call, but there are (unfortunately) many accidents of that magnitude. Carlossuarez46 21:40, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete per above. Possibly move content to WikiNews Iain99 22:18, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Can't be done due to (oddly enough) conflicting licenses. Circeus 22:19, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Changed to Keep per some of Guycalledryan's comments below. I don't think that breadth of coverage can establish notability as it's still transient, but the change in seatbelt policy does give it a claim to long term relevance per WP:NOTNEWS criterion 2. Iain99 09:01, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• WEak Delete there have been numerous worst bus accidents in the past and I'm sure lots of deadly accidents in China and India for exemple that have like 15-20 or more deaths have no articles.--JForget 22:39, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete per nom, nn. Oliver Keenan 22:43, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
• Strong Delete Bus accidents are sad, pedestrian accidents are sad, motorcycle accidents are sad, no need for an article about every single one, however. JForget is right. There are lots of bus accidents in the Third World that usually end up as a filler in the New York Times under the headline, "Bus Plunge Kills ____" (number between 1 and 200). Mandsford 01:05, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Strong keep, multiple news stories from non-trivial national sources demonstrate notability of this within both community and USA, [1][2][3][4]. Ongoing investigation was covered [5] and appeared to have significant ongoing impact, including calls for better seat belts on buses from a variety of organisations [6][7]. Sure this may not have the death toll of some worse disasters but it is definitely notable within both its local community and the country as a whole and has had an ongoing impact within the state Guycalledryan 03:14, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete any bus accident typically gets a mention in national news. Does not change the fact that newsworthy is not noteworthy. Resolute 04:05, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

It wasn't just a mention, it was widespread and extensive coverage, and it had an ongoing impact within the state. With fear of breaching WP:WAX, articles such as the 2007 Melbourne CBD shootings demonstrate that that a newsworthy subject can become notable if it is widely reported to a large population, this is what happened with the accident, and in addition it has had influence after its occurrance. Notability is the perception of those to whom it is notable, and if a incident is widely reported to the population to the point of having a profound impact on politics it is notable for inclusion, even if it doesn't have the death toll of other disasters. Guycalledryan 04:24, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS. The Melbourne article is irrelevant. As far as the rest of your comment goes, I'd love to see it sourced and included in the article before I reconsider my vote. The article, as it currently stands, fails to make any assertion of notability. Resolute 04:38, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not saying that because the Melbourne article exists this one should, instead I'm using the Melbourne article to demonstrate that notability doesn't rely on the number of people killed but instead on public perception. The fact that this event was extensively covered on the news establishes its notability above other events which may have claimed more lives, both locally (and this having a continuing impact within the town and state) and nationally. I have sourced my claims, and if I get time I'll add it to the article. Guycalledryan 05:46, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

• Keep per sources found by Guycalledryan. Chubbles 04:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Weak keep Per Iain99 noting that it led to at least a pilot program requiring seat belts on school busses, a slight societal effect. This satisfies criterion 2 of the essay WP:NOTNEWS which reflects the views of a number of editors, but is not a guideline. The number of injuries, and the number of deaths (4 out of the (edit) 40000 or so motor vehicle deaths a year in the US) and the pro forma coverage in news media of a school bus accident, would not otherwise satisfy WP:NOT#NEWS. Edison 18:51, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep per Guycalledryan. Also, a recent (11 July 2007) AP story on school bus safety referenced it [8]. Lkseitz 14:00, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep originally on the fence on this one, but after reading the article and poring over the sources cited, this is noteworthy because it might prompt Alabama officials to impose seat belts on school buses. (→O - RLY?) 02:42, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep per Guycalledryan. Geuiwogbil 14:19, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.