This picture was taken on March 25th, 1996, two days before Sara was killed in the bus crash on her way to the Taj Mahal in India.  She's reaching behind the "Iron Pillar," which originally stood before a temple or Fishnu and was possibly brought here, at the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in the eleventh century.  According to legend, if you stand with your back to the pillar and can reach around and touch your fingers, any wish you make will come true.

Then, two days later, this news made international headlines:

Seven participants in Semester at Sea program killed in overseas bus accident.

On March 27, 1996, while traveling on the Semester at Sea study abroad program sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, Sara Christie Schewe was killed in a bus crash in India. She was on a Semester at Sea school sponsored trip to see the Taj Mahal along with over 50 other students. The road was treacherous by day, and deadly at night. Four students and three adults were killed. Three others were seriously injured.

For more information about the bus crash read the October 4, 2000, testimony of John Amato before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.  John Amato's daughter, Virginia, perished with Sara, Jenna Druck and Cherese Laulhere.

Lack of highway safety standards make Indian roads an international hazard.

Seasoned travelers try to avoid bus travel in India, where 75,000 road accidents take place every year. To drive in India, says Lonely Planet Online, you need "nerves of steel and excellent karma." Indian drivers are known as "fearless and innovative," according to one Atlantic Monthly travel writer, and as a result, Americans abroad often choose to travel by train. The subcontinent is crisscrossed with railroads laid down by British colonists, which adhere to a much greater standard of international travel safety than the highways. After Sara's death, we learned of other Semester at Sea participants who were shocked by the number of crash sites they passed on Indian roads.

It is our hope that sharing Sara's story will help inform both parents and students. Accidents can and should be avoided - not by prohibiting adventure and exploration, but by gaining access to more and better information about issues such as international highway safety. 

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