his injuries several days later. 16-year-old Stephan Ward died on April 14. Some of the children that survived required artificial limbs. One reporter wrote that in the aftermath the hospital had "...anguished mothers, some still clad in bathrobes, crowded the hospital lobby seeking information on their children." None of the train crew were injured in the accident. Trial Larkin was brought to trial and charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of the five students. He pled not guilty to all charges. At trial, witnesses testified that Larkin failed to stop the bus before crossing into the train's path, while Larkin testified he neither saw nor heard the train beforehand. Larkin was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to five years’ probation; he died in 2000. Aftermath After the accident there was public outcry and anger against the driver and the fact that there were no warning gates or lights at the crossing. On September 22, 1972, the National Transportation Safety Board directed a recommendation relating to the accident towards the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Louis M. Thayer was part of the five member board of the Federal Agency to question witnesses and investigate the accident. A mass for three students who were killed was held at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Congers. A special interdenominational prayer service for the recovery of the injured was held as part of the Palm Sunday observance at All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church in Valley Cottage. Because of the accident, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles established article 19-A, which is a system that all bus drivers must be qualified to drive by completing a certain amount of requirements, which include, biennial medicals (with follow-ups if needed), biennial written or oral tests, biennial road tests, yearly defensive driving tests, yearly license abstracts, and fingerprints with criminal history reviews. Article 19-A was established in 1974, two years after the accident. See also 1972 in rail transport 1972 in the United States List of American railroad accidents List of level crossing accidents List of rail accidents (1970–79) 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision, similar grade-crossing accident in Chicago suburbs where substitute school bus driver lacked familiarity with route. Blackheath train accident, 2010 crash in South Africa also resulting from school taxi driver's attempt to beat train through crossing References Railroad crossing accidents in the United States Bus incidents in the