OFFICIAL STATEMENT by WAYNE NELSON OF LITTLE RIVER BAND REGARDING TOUR BUS ACCIDENT

Wayne is absolute in his thankfulness for their long time bus driver Earl

It was a Sunday morning on the Interstate around Macon, Georgia heading to the Atlanta airport when there was a terrible sound that resembled an explosion. Wayne Nelson describes it all clearly and succinctly in his official statement to the Night Owls.  The Night Owls are what the members of the Little River Band Fan Club  are affectionately referred to by the band and fan club admin. 

Hey Night Owls
Thanks for all the good wishes about our bus incident on Sunday morning. Thankfully we're all fine...the bus took the brunt of the damage when it slammed into the guardrail twice. The State of GA will be sending us a bill for that!! The Angels were on our side that morning...
We were in the middle lane at freeway speed when the front right tire blew...no, exploded. It sounded like a grenade had gone off or that someone had slammed into us. Then the bus took a nosedive to the left and crossed the fast lane onto the shoulder. Had anyone been passing us at the time, it could have been deadly for them. Had there not been a guardrail to keep us out of the median, the bus could have flipped...or veered into oncoming traffic. As it was, we bounced off the rail twice before Earl could gain control and we rolled about 100 yards on the front left rim.
I can't say this often or loudly enough...Earl Adams' driving skills kept us upright and aimed in the right direction. A less experienced or talented driver could have overcorrected and flipped the bus...or slammed through the guardrail. And all that focus happened after that explosion directly below his chair...and half the front lounge was sliding down and into his compartment. In the midst of that chaos, Earl kept his head and steered us to safety. If I had to guess, I'd say Earl has taken us at least a million miles since 2002. I won't be riding with anyone else.
Gotta be honest...this one has taken a while to process. It's our 3rd close call in the last 4 months. We were able to roll through and past the others, but this blowout stopped us in our tracks. All have been avoided because we have a great driver behind the wheel. So if you see Earl before or after a show, say hey!!
Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers and best wishes.
Wayne

​PS...at the band Facebook page, mention was made that the greenest of us learned a lesson to sleep with his feet forward. To be clear, he was indeed sleeping that way. But he was able to provide a slight bit of humor after the dust settled. We were collecting ourselves and cleaning all the items off the floor and he said..."I feel bad for having all the fun, but somebody else can have the top bunk now!"
And on we go...

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