NTSB tells Congess that motorcoach safety needs improvement.
Share:
Press Release Summary:
Testifying before U.S. Senate Commerce, NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said that although motorcoach travel is one of the safest modes of transportation, there are still improvements that can be made to make it even safer. Rosenker highlighted need for improvements in motorcoach occupant protection systems, in strengthened government oversight of motorcoach operators, and in more rapid deployment of advanced motorcoach safety technologies.
Original Press Release:
NTSB Acting Chairman Tells Congress That More Needs to Be Done on Motorcoach Safety
Washington, D.C. - National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today told a Senate subcommittee that, "although motorcoach travel is one of the safest modes of transportation, there are still many improvements that can be made to make it even safer."
Testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety
and Security, the chairman highlighted the need for improvements in motorcoach occupant protection systems, in strengthened government oversight of motorcoach operators, and in more rapid deployment of advanced motorcoach safety technologies.
For decades the Board has been concerned with a range of motorcoach safety issues as a result of numerous Board investigations. While most highway accidents are investigated at the state and local level, intercity motorcoach accidents typically involve a substantial number of people traveling in a single vehicle, so these kinds of crash investigations are frequently brought to the Board.
"These passengers are often students or elderly persons who rely on motorcoach travel and have placed their safety in the hands of a professional motorcoach operator," said
Acting Chairman Rosenker. "That factor demands that motorcoaches meet the highest level of safety."
The issue of Motorcoach Passenger Safety is on the Board's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements because of the critical importance of this issue and the lack of substantive progress on the Board's recommendations. Some of the Board's earliest recommendations, related to occupant protection features, date back to the Board's origin in 1967, while the newest recommendations involve the development of performance standards for new technologies, such as adaptive cruise control and collision warning systems.
The full text of the Acting Chairman's written testimony can be found on the NTSB's website under Speeches and Testimony.
