About 5:38 am EST, while operating the motorcoach southbound in a left-hand HOV lane of I-75 in the Atlanta metropolitan area, the driver accidentally entered a left exit ramp, which ended abruptly at an elevated T-junction marked by a stop sign.

The driver lost control of the bus, which slid sideways into a concrete bridge wall and chain-link security fence, then fell 19 feet, landing on its left side across the interstate highway below.

In its final report, the NTSB determined that the probable cause was "the motorcoach driver's mistaking the HOV-only left exit ramp to Northside Drive for the southbound Interstate 75 HOV through lane."

A contributing factor to the crash was "failure of the Georgia Department of Transportation to install adequate traffic control devices to identify the separation and divergence of the Northside Drive HOV-only left exit ramp from the southbound Interstate 75 HOV through lane."

The bus was a 2000 Van Hool T2145 57-passenger intercity motorcoach that had passed a safety inspection by the Ohio Highway Patrol on February 23, just seven days before the crash.

Niemeyer, apparently mistaken, drove left onto an exit ramp, which rose upward to a wide elevated road and a T-junction, marked by a stop sign, with Northside Drive (US 41).

Unable to make the turn, it hit the low barrier wall, which caused the back end of the bus to swing around to the right, pointing it due northbound.

Meanwhile, preliminary tests ruled out the possibility of a mechanical failure, as well as driver intoxication as blood and urine samples from Niemeyer later showed the presence of ibuprofen, therapeutic levels of the antidepressant Sertraline and the anti-hypertensive drug Atenolol, and concluded that he had no alcohol in his system.

Contributing to the crash driver’s route mistake was the failure of the Georgia Department of Transportation to install adequate traffic control devices to identify the separation and divergence of the Northside Drive HOV-only left exit ramp from the southbound Interstate 75 HOV through lane.

[14] Several lawsuits were filed by the families of deceased players and by those injured in the crash in the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia.

Wrongful death and personal injury claims arising from this crash were settled in phases for a total of $25 million, which was allocated among all claimants by agreement through a joint prosecution group.

First, the insurer for Executive Coach paid its policy limits of $5 million required under the Federal Motor Carrier safety regulations.

Second, the state of Georgia paid $3 million to the crash victim due to claims of negligent design of the ramp, intersection and signage.

Doctors from Grady Memorial Hospital telephoned congressmen from Ohio and Georgia soon after the crash urging them to put seat belts on charter buses to avoid this situation in the near future.

[28] Hundreds of people packed Founders Hall on the Bluffton University campus for the memorial service on March 12, 2007, and an overflow audience listened outside as the student body mourned together for the first time.