Las Vegas Sun

February 12, 2012

Currently: 60° | Complete forecast | Log in

Sun editorial:

Bus safety still an issue

Lax federal regulation associated with deaths and injuries, including recent local crash

Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 | 2:09 a.m.

The fatal tour-bus crash Jan. 30 in Arizona 27 miles south of Hoover Dam is another tragic reminder that federal regulations regarding motorcoach safety need to be toughened.

Seven people were killed when the driver lost control of the bus, and 10 were injured, two of them critically.

Jim Hall, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, wrote to the Las Vegas Sun after the accident. The board is an independent federal agency that investigates road, air, marine and rail accidents to learn whether they could have been prevented with additional safety measures.

Hall criticized the opposition to stronger regulations, which could save lives, by the very federal agency charged with protecting passengers — the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In his commentary, published in Wednesday’s Sun, Hall faulted the agency for listening too much to the American Bus Association, a lobbying group that argues against additional safety measures because of their costs.

The association’s Web site shows it opposed the Motorcoach Safety Act of 2007, whose provisions included the requirement that “safety belts be installed in motorcoaches at each designated seating position.” The legislation, debated last year, never became law.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Mary Manning has written that all seven of the people who died in the Jan. 30 crash were ejected from the bus. Hall wrote that while the cause of the crash has yet to be determined, the facts already released “indicate that these casualties were likely preventable.”

Hall also wrote that, nationwide, there have been five motorcoach accidents in the past six months in which 35 people have been killed and scores injured. He added that the type of safety regulations the NTSB recommended when he was chairman, including a safety-belt requirement and strengthened windows to prevent ejections, should be enacted.

We agree. It is appalling that federal regulators are not doing more to protect vulnerable bus passengers. Congress should prepare another motorcoach safety act that mandates safety belts and other strong crash protection systems — and this time ignore the bus lobbyists and pass it.

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Discussed
  • E-mailed
  • Facebook