Discount Bus Crashes Lead to Calls for Tougher Regulations

July 6, 2012

Coach buses and other top-heavy vehicles tend to rollover more often. Alert these drivers to slow down, especially on curves.

July 6, 2012 — On the 4th of July, another discount bus crashed, igniting calls for tighter regulations and safety standards for the discount bus industry. The accident occurred at 6:20am when the bus struck the median barrier on the I-95 near New Rochelle. According to reports, the driver abandoned the bus during the initial collision; it is not clear yet whether he was forcefully ejected or willingly abandoned the vehicle. After the initial collision the unmanned bus careened across three lanes of traffic before finally striking a concrete barrier. The impact was strong enough to break off chunks of concrete but the barrier held: preventing the bus from tipping over and dropping 12 feet. The bus then continued to slide along the barrier until a state trooper stopped the bus with his police vehicle. Six passengers had to be carried out on stretchers while seventeen others walked off with neck and minor injuries. The driver was the most seriously injured.

Police are trying to determine the cause of the crash; however, it was most likely caused by the drivers’ early morning fatigue.  In fact, the bus company, Star Tag, has been cited at least four times in the past for driver fatigue. In spite of this, Star Tag has received a “satisfactory” rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website, which highlighted the company’s accident free record for the past two years.

These “drive safely” signs remind drivers to slow down and drive carefully.

This is not the first occasion when fatigue was the factor behind a bus crash. In March 2011, fifteen people were killed when a bus hit an exit ramp sign about a mile from the most recent crash. The accident also took place early in the morning and was presumably caused by the driver’s fatigue. In response to the incident and other less dangerous bus crashes, New York Senator Charles Schumer created legislation to regulate discount bus lines by requiring discount bus companies to publicly disclose safety grades. Similar to restaurant grades, the grades would be displayed at all ticket counters for discount bus companies. The bill includes various other safety measures like improving occupant safety in buses via seat belts, anti-ejection windows, rollover prevention, as well as requiring the Department of Transportation to conduct a study on driver fatigue. The bill has passed both houses but currently awaits the president’s signature before it becomes law.

A safety scoreboard from JobSafetyScoreboards.com

Bus companies can motivate employees to enhance workplace safety with this electronic safety scoreboard. 

Yet Schumer’s legislation does not target the problem: driver fatigue. Most likely, the bill’s rating system will only hurt the discount bus industry as it has hurt many restaurants. The fact is, people ride coach buses because they are a much cheaper alternative to driving a car, taking a train, or flying. Accidents can happen in any of these modes of travel but money-conscious consumers opt to place their lives in the hands of a bus driver in exchange for cheap travel fare.  Rather than unfairly punishing bus companies for the uncontrollable fatigue of their drivers, encourage companies to implement a driver education program that emphasizes safety tactics like refraining from driving while fatigued, or design a system that ensures that drivers are alert before they operate a bus.

– N. Gilliat

Category: News, Regulations

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