Bus Accident Recommendations By NTSB

Bus accidents have been a problem in Atlanta and Georgia for many years. Recently, the lawyers of Finch McCranie LLP were able to secure a very favorable settlement for the most seriously injured survivor in the Bluffton Bus crash which occurred here some years ago.
Now, in an encouraging move, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending charter bus companies come up with better plans to deal with crashes in remote areas. Last Friday, the NTSB sent recommendations to the American Bus Association and the United Motorcoach Association. The list suggests detailed contingency plans and information about driving through remote areas where there is no wireless telephone coverage.
In January 2008, nine people died and 43 others were injured in a bush crash near Mexican Hat, Utah, as they returned to Phoenix, Arizona from a weekend ski trip in Telluride, Colo.
The NTSB said the accident was most likely caused by the 71-year-old driver’s fatigue, which slowed his reaction time. The bus also had to take a longer route than normal because a mountain pass had been closed by heavy snow.
The NTSB recommendations said the charter company should have considered overnight accommodations or provided relief drivers somewhere along the 550-mile drive between Telluride and Phoenix.
The NTSB also criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to implement motorcoach safety recommendations made a decade ago.
These recommendations included stronger roofs on buses, that buses should have easy-to-open, shatterproof windows and that steps be taken — including possibly requiring seat belts — to prevent passengers from being ejected in rollovers.
We are hopeful that with a new administration in Washington, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will act on these common sense recommendations which will most likely save lives and prevent injuries.