Bus Accidents Continue to Kill and Injure

Bus accidents were the subject of action taken by The National Transportation Safety Board this week. The NTSB is the federal agency charged with investigating major transportation accidents. On Tuesday, it strongly criticized regulators at the Department of Transportation for lax oversight of the commercial bus industry.
The NTSB voted to cite the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to implement recommendations that could lead to new safety equipment on buses, including seatbelts and stronger roofs and windows. They have been urging NHTSA to enact their recommendations since 1999.
The vote came after investigators for the NTSB disclosed findings from an investigationof a Jan. 6, 2008, rollover bus crash in Utah that killed nine passengers and injured 43. It was one of a string of deadly commercial bus accidents involving passenger ejections over the past two years. Included was the Bluffton University bus crash here in Atlanta. Our lawyers represented one of the seriously injured students in that crash.
The NTSB identified driver fatigue as the primary cause of the Utah crash, but stated that NHTSA’s delay in developing standards to protect people on buses contributed to the severity of the crash.
Board members expressed frustration at the delay of NHTSA in developing and enacting safety measures for buses.
In the NTSB report, investigators revealed details about the condition of the 71-year-old driver in the Utah crash. They concluded that he was fatigued on the night of the accident, causing him to speed and lose control of the bus, which was moving between 88 and 92 miles per hour when it crashed. In the days before the accident, the driver reported suffering from a head cold, may have experienced altitude sickness and was losing sleep nightly, possibly as a result of sleep apnea, the investigators said.
The NTSB also had harsh words for the medical oversight by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, another agency within the transportation department. That agency is responsible for drivers’ medical certifications. Board members complained that the agency had yet to act on medical recommendations issued by an outside advisory board, including a suggestion on sleep apnea, a condition where a sleeper stops breathing.