A number of recent motor-coach accidents in the Northeast have increased debate over bus safety in the U.S. While bus companies claim that traveling by motor coach or bus is extremely safe, safety advocates and government regulators argue that more must be done to prevent bus accidents and reduce injuries when crashes occur.
Tragic Bus Accident
In March 2011, 15 people died and several were injured in a tragic bus accident in New York. A motor-coach operated by World Wide Travel was transporting people from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to Chinatown in New York City when it got involved in a rollover accident, crashing onto its side and sliding off the road. The bus was split nearly in half by a concrete highway signpost that sheared off the bus's roof.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident. It reported that the bus was traveling at 78 mph - the top speed allowed by the bus's speed-control device - within 45 seconds of the crash, even though the speed limit in that area of Interstate 95 is 55 mph.
Two passengers who survived the bus accident with injuries sued World Wide Travel and the bus driver. In their lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege that the bus company was negligent in allowing the driver to operate the bus and that the driver was speeding and fell asleep behind the wheel.
The New York accident and other tragic crashes involving motor coaches have caused people to question why so many buses do not have seat belts installed. In response, some groups state that seat belts are not likely to reduce injuries in bus accidents. However, others say that technology to increase bus safety already exists and reliable improvements are past-due.
Bus Seat Belt Study
In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studied the safety impact of seat belts in large school buses. It found that lap belts "appear to have little, if any, benefit in reducing serious-to-fatal injuries in severe frontal crashes." It also determined that lap belts could actually increase serious neck injuries in young bus passengers.
Further, the NHTSA reported that "compartmentalization" of bus passengers in closely-spaced seats padded with foam cushioning reduces injuries just as much as lap-shoulder belts in school buses. However, in dangerous rollover accidents, the NHTSA said seat belts could reduce the risk of death by a whopping 77 percent.
Bus companies and opponents of bus seat belts argue that buses are very safe already. According to the American Bus Association, motor coaches make around 750 million passenger trips each year in the U.S. In 2007, the fatality rate for motor-coaches was 0.5 per 100 million miles traveled, the organization said. For automobiles, the fatality rate was 1.04 per 100 million miles traveled.
In addition, Slate Magazine reported a chilling cost-benefit analysis by the University of Alabama. The analysis concluded that the cost of requiring seat belts in buses would be $32 to $38 million per "equivalent life saved," while the value of a statistical life, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, is only about $6 million. Therefore, the estimated cost of requiring bus seat belts would exceed the value of the lives saved by the seat belts.
Bus Safety Recommendations
According to Slate Magazine, six states including California require school buses to have safety restraints, but seat belts are not required in all buses nationwide. However, the NTSB is urging federal regulators to implement improved safety requirements soon.
The NTSB studies transportation accidents and makes recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other agencies to increase travel safety. The NTSB has made several bus-safety recommendations, including:
- Require seat belts for all bus passengers
- Use electronic onboard recorders that track how many hours a driver has been driving
- Require glaze on bus windows that keeps them intact even when shattered
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, about 50 percent of all motor-coach fatalities result from rollover accidents, and around 70 percent of the victims fatally injured in rollover accidents were ejected from the bus. Accordingly, the NTSB has also recommended that motor coaches have stronger roofs that are not easily sheared off or crushed in crashes.
Bus Driver Danger
Additionally, the NTSB reported that 60 percent of the fatal bus accidents it investigated over a 12-year period were the result of driver problems. Regardless of buses' safety features, distracted, fatigued or unqualified drivers are a significant danger to bus passengers, and bus companies are responsible for putting safe drivers behind the wheel.
A bus company may be held liable for personal injury after a bus crash if it allowed an unsafe driver to operate the vehicle. Bus companies may be found negligent, or legally responsible for an accident, if they:
- Do not maintain proper oversight of their drivers
- Push their drivers to work extended hours without adequate rest
- Provide insufficient training
- Employ drivers with histories of traffic accidents or violations
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, contact a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer to discuss any legal claims you may have against the bus driver or the bus company.
