• 31
  • January
    2012

In 2011 alone there were 23 interstate bus accidents killing 33 people and injuring 452.

These tragic numbers are driven largely by the curbside bus industry whose accident rate is seven times higher than other interstate bus operators. Curbside operators average 1.4 fatal accidents for every 100 vehicles versus the 0.2 for conventional bus operators.

Some of the factors responsible for this contrast are as follows:

• Lack of adequate resources for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The 878 inspectors are expected to enforce safety regulations with 765,000 bus companies. An inspection of one bus company may take two weeks or longer.

• The safety administration lacks the authority to regulate online broker ticket sales. This is how the majority of curbside bus companies sell their tickets.

• Curbside bus companies are evading safety enforcement by re-opening their companies under different names after being forced to shut down.

• Driver fatigue caused by falsifying logbooks and surpassing the limit on allowed number of driving hours.

• Curbside bus companies listing incorrect addresses or phone numbers, making it difficult to schedule and keep up on required inspections.

• Operators sometimes register with incomplete information, making it difficult for safety administrations to keep track of the company.

In short, curbside operators are not following safety regulations to the same degree as traditional operators, causing curbside buses to be more dangerous.

The curbside bus fatality rate has caused an increase in efforts to improve the level of safety in the industry. Some of these efforts include the following:

• Pushing for tougher bus safety regulations.

• Introducing legislation that would increase the quantity of federal bus inspectors, as well as require carriers to be publicly graded on their level of compliance with safety regulations.

These efforts would force curbside operators to either comply with safety regulations or lose business as consumers become aware of the differing level of safety between curbside and traditional operators.

Ultimately, bus safety is the responsibility of the busy company - not the government. If you or a loved one is seriously injured or killed in a bus crash, contact an experienced Harrisburg public transportation accident attorney to discuss your legal options for recovering damages.

Source: hamptonroads.com, "A bus by any name is hard to regulate," The Virginian-Pilot, Jan. 9, 2012