Bus Accidents’ Category
Study Finds Curbside Coaches Less Safe Than Conventional Carriers
Saturday, November 5th, 2011
A new study by the National Transportation Safety Board has found that curbside carriers have a higher accident rate than conventional intercity bus companies that pick up passengers at terminals. The study also found that drivers of curbside carriers have much higher violation rates than drivers of other buses.
The National Transportation Safety Board report focused on motor coach safety after a deadly bus accident in New York killed 14 people earlier this year. The report focuses especially strongly on curbside carriers that pick up and drop passengers at points other than a bus terminal.
The report finds that although...
Increased Enforcement in Texas during School Bus Safety Week
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
This week, states across the country are marking National School Bus Safety Week. In Texas, officers of the Department of Public Safety are making additional rounds, looking out for violators who drive past a stopped bus that is dropping or picking up kids.
According to the Texas Highway Patrol, troopers will be carrying out additional enforcement activities in order to prevent accidents involving schoolchildren alighting or getting onto school buses. Violators, who are caught driving illegally passing a stopped school bus, will be fined up to $1,000.
Many accidents occur when children are alighting or getting onto a bus, and are...
Feds Launch Surprise Bus Safety Inspections
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is coming down hard on bus companies that violate safety regulations, exposing passengers to the risk of injuries and accidents. The agency has launched a massive inspection effort that will involve thousands of inspections right through October 7, 2011.
All kinds of buses, including tour buses, and school buses will be included in the initiative. The inspections are part of the agency’s Nationwide Passenger Carrier Strike Force. It is also meant to go coincide with the National Motor Coach Safety Summit in Washington which is being sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier...
NHTSA Denies School Bus Seatbelt Petition
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has denied a petition by safety groups calling for a federal mandate for seatbelts in all school buses. The agency believes that there isn't enough evidence pointing to additional benefits from mandating seatbelts.
The petition by Washington-based Center for Auto Safety and at least twenty-one other groups called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to mandate seatbelts on school buses. The petition insisted that seatbelts are necessary in order to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur in school bus-related accidents every year.
In support of its petition, the groups drew...
21 People Injured in Texas Bus Accident, Driver Fatigue Blamed for Crash
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
There has been yet another serious bus accident in Texas, this one involving a charter bus that overturned near San Marcos.
The accident occurred last Friday. There were 21 passengers on the bus. All of them were injured and had to be taken to the hospital. At least two people in the bus suffered head injuries.
The charter operated by Mares Bus Lines was on its way from the Laredo to Dallas. On Interstate 35, the bus suddenly overcorrected and flipped over. According to news reports, the driver fell asleep while driving, and it was then that the vehicle struck a...
Underreporting of Bus Accident Deaths Provides Inaccurate Data
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Serious discrepancies in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s bus accident fatality reporting system means that passengers are likely under a false sense of security about the safety of these buses. An investigation by USA Today has found that dozens of bus accident fatalities between 1995 and 2009 are missing from the federal administration's bus accident fatality data.
According to the report, there were at least 42 fatalities between 1995 and 2009 that were not included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations estimate of fatalities. Additionally, there were more than 40 fatalities that occurred in accidents involving midsize buses,...
With 25 Accident deaths, 2011 Has Been a Bad Year for Bus Safety
Friday, June 17th, 2011
The year 2011 has been a terrible year for bus safety with a total of six serious bus accidents already recorded. These accidents have ended with 25 deaths. Anne Ferro, chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration quoted those statistics as she spoke before a congressional hearing last week. Ferro was pushing for more funding for her agency in order to conduct more inspections and increase oversight over bus companies.
Ferro is specifically asking for more funding to increase the number of inspectors, so her agency can inspect every single bus in the long-distance industry at least once every...
Driver Fatigue is a Factor in Many Bus Accidents
Monday, June 6th, 2011
It’s not just truck driver fatigue that Houston bus accident lawyers should be concerned about, but also the risk to passengers from bus drivers fatigued at the wheel. An accident last week in Virginia that killed four people and injured dozens of others makes it clear that the federal administration needs to come down harder on companies that allow drivers to work long hours without a break. The driver involved in the Virginia accident told investigators that he had been tired at the wheel.
While truck drivers are required to take a 10-hour break between shifts, bus drivers are only...
FMCSA Proposes New Bus Safety Rules to Prevent Accidents
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced new rules aimed at reducing the risk of injuries and fatalities to bus passengers. As a Houston bus accident attorney, I believe Texas desperately needs stronger bus safety laws, because of the several serious and fatal accidents that have occurred here recently.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new rules will strengthen standards for commercial driver’s licenses. Under the new rules, any person who wants to obtain a commercial driver’s license must first obtain a commercial driver's learner’s permit. The rule also creates a national standard for commercial driver’s licensing...
Driver’s Medical Condition Blamed for Texas Bus Accident
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Last week, a charter bus on its way from Dallas to Oklahoma City, hit a highway barrier just 2 miles north of Dallas. 18 passengers sustained injuries, and at least one of these persons was critically injured. Investigators are now looking at the medical condition of the driver as a possible factor in the accident.
Since the accident, there has been some confusion due to the fact that the driver speaks little English. Soon after the accident, investigators who did not speak Spanish were not able to completely understand what the driver was saying through sign language. They...
