The National Transportation Safety Board released its latest “Most Wanted List” of safety improvements, including a renewed request that the U.S. Department of Transportation increase safety of motorcoach passengers.
The call to action is filed under “Enhanced Bus Safety,” following several high-profile crashes involving motorcoaches since the start of this year. The recommendation could also include other types of vehicles such as school buses, and included on the NTSB’s motorcoach safety Web page is a link to a letter dated Aug. 22, 1990 from then NTSB Chairman James Kolstad to then NHTSA Administrator Jerry Curry asking for a revision several Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards relating to school buses following the Sept. 21, 1989 crash of a school bus and a Coca-Cola Bottling Company delivery truck in Alton, Texas. Twenty-one of the 55 students on board died while trying to evacuate.
But, as NTSB noted, the current issue appears to center entirely on motorcoaches, which have garnered much interest of late from federal legislators and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, most recently after a motorcoach crashed on I-95 in Virginia on May 30 that killed four passengers.
NHTSA released its own Motorcoach Safety Plan in December of 2009 that would require electronic on-board recording devices on all motorcoaches to monitor drivers’ hours and fatigue and a ban on texting and limiting the use of cellular telephones and other devices by motorcoach drivers. NHTSA would also study electronic stability control, initiate rulemaking for three-point, lap/shoulder belts, develop roof-crush performance standards, enhance oversight of carriers, and establish minimum knowledge requirements for motor carriers to follow.
LaHood also charged NHTSA with expanding its research on crash-avoidance warning systems. NHTSA completed its first motorcoach crash test this past December and issued a follow-up NPRM last summer to require the lap/shoulder belts for drivers and passengers. At the end of last year, FMCSA launched CSA 2010 nationwide to better identify non-compliant motor carriers and to target specific problem areas.
Meanwhile, two bills are in Congress that seek to increase motorcoach safety by calling for many of the same NHTSA requirements already being worked on. The United Motorcoach Association supports the federal regulatory route being taken by NHTSA as well as one of the bills in the House. Victor Parra, executive director of UMA, testified on June 13 before a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that the industry agrees with the”common sense” HR 1390, the Bus Uniform Standards and Enhanced Safety Act of 2011, that was introduced in the House by Rep. Bill Shuster (D-NY) in April. That bill focuses on monitoring the safety record of motorcoach providers and drivers as well as developing requirements for ensuring physical fitness of drivers.
UMA remained opposed to the Enhanced Motorcoach Safety Act, which was first introduced in 2007 by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) following the 2006 crash of a motorcoach in Atlanta that killed the driver, the driver’s wife and five members of the Bluffton (Ohio) University baseball team. That bill essentially addresses issues already reflected in NHTSA’s Motorcoach Safety Plan and includes restrictive requirements for new operators wishing to enter the motorcoach business. Parra testified before the House committee that those provisions could result in increased costs of motorcoach travel without necessarily improving safety.
He added that the Brown-Hutchinson allows policy to drive the science of crash testing that NHTSA is already performing, and it assigns unrealistic timelines for making the safety improvements.
NTSB removed from the Most Wanted List its last school bus safety recommendation in February 2010 after NHTSA published its updated final rule for FMVSS 222 to require three-point, lap/shoulder belts on small Type A school buses and to set standards for the voluntary installation of these same seat belt systems for larger school buses.
With the release of the updated Latest Most Wanted List, NTSB also unveiled an overall Web site redesign.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its latest “Most Wanted List” of safety improvements, including a renewed request that the U.S. Department of Transportation increase safety for passengers.
The call is filed under the name “Enhanced Bus Safety,” which could also include other types of vehicles such as school buses. But, as NTSB notes, the current issue centers entirely on motorcoaches, which have garnered much interest of late from federal legistators and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
NHTSA released its own motorcoach safety plan in December of 2009. It included seven actions that would have the greatest impact on improving motorcoach safety, including electronic on-board recording devices on all motorcoaches to monitor drivers’ hours and fatigue and a ban on texting and limiting the use of cellular telephones and other devices by motorcoach drivers. NHTSA would be required to initiate rulemaking to require the installation of seat belts on motorcoaches, to improve tire performance and to establish performance requirements for roof crush and for electronic stability control.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also charged NHTSA with expanding its research on crash-avoidance warning systems, improved glazing and window retention techniques and fire safety and enhanced emergency egress requirements. NHTSA also completed its first motorcoach crash test this past December and issued an NPRM on requiring lap/shoulder belts. At about the same time, FMCSA launched CSA 2010 nationwide to better identify non-compliant motor carriers and to target specific problem areas.
Meanwhile, two bills are in Congress that seek to increase motorcoach safety by calling for many of the same NHTSA requirements already being worked on. The United Motorcoach Association supports the federal regulatory route being taken by NHTSA rather than legislating the changes. Victor Parra, executive director of UMA, testifed on June 13 before a House Committee that the industry also agrees the “common sense” HR 1390, the Bus Uniform Standards and Enhanced Safety Act of 2011, that was introduced in the House by Rep. Bill Shuster (D-NY). The bill essentially directs NHTSA to complete its motorcoach safety plan.
But UMA remained opposed to the Enhanced Motorcoach Safety Act first introduced in 2007 by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Kay Bailey Hutchins (R-TX) following the 2006 crash of a motorcoach in Atlanta that killed the driver, the driver’s wife and five members of the Bluffton (Ohio) University baseball team.
In fact, school bus safety apparently launched NTSB’s efforts during the summer of 1990 when then NTSB Chairman James Kolstad wrote a letter to then NHTSA Administrator Jerry Curry asking NHTSA revise several Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards relating to school buses. The recommendation followed the Sept. 21, 1989 crash of a school bus and a Coca-Cola Bottling Company delivery truck in Alton, Texas. The Mission ISD school bus overturned in drainage ditch, and 21 of the 55 students on board died.
NTSB’s investigation concluded that
NTSB has pushed for enhanced bus safety since the summer of 1990, long before recent high-profile crashes over the past couple of years refocused federal as well as media attention on the issue. Former NHSTA Administrator Jerry Curry, then a member of President George H. W. Bush’s administration,
