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FMCSA Shuts Down North Carolina Company After Bus Accident
Fatal bus accidents are particularly difficult to accept due to the considerable trust that passengers invest in bus companies and drivers to deliver them safely to their destinations.
September 10, 2011 /Law and Legal PR News/ -- Major motor vehicle accidents cause tremendous damage and catastrophic injuries, and the worst trucking accidents and freeway pileups make national headlines. Such was the case when a bus enroute from North Carolina to New York City recently flipped on a Virginia freeway, resulting in four deaths and many injuries to its 58 passengers.
Fatal bus accidents are particularly difficult to accept due to the considerable trust that passengers invest in bus companies and drivers to deliver them safely to their destinations. North Carolina's Sky Express, Inc., which was already under investigation for an unsatisfactory safety rating, was ordered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to immediately cease all intrastate and interstate passenger service.
Regulation of interstate carriers is not always a simple matter of closing down a ticket booth and expecting the owners to honor the law. After pulling the company's interstate license, the FMCSA had to issue a cease-and-desist order against Sky Express to halt sales of tickets and vouchers through brokers, ticketing websites or other intermediaries, and cease all operations under other names.
Only a week later, the FMCSA shut down another North Carolina-based company, United Tours, Inc., after declaring the company to be an "imminent hazard" to public safety due to its employment of unqualified drivers and its failure to comply with FMCSA reporting requirements. The order pointed out the company's "continuing and flagrant general disregard" for federal safety regulations and characterized its business practices as "reckless."
Resources for Passengers to Avoid Unsafe Bus Companies
Bus travel is an economic and convenient option for many travelers, but unscrupulous bus companies that neglect issues such as driver drug use, inadequate maintenance and other safety problems should not be allowed to jeopardize public safety. The FMCSA makes a range of passenger carrier information available to consumers to help them make informed choices when planning a trip or chartering a bus.
"If you are planning on taking an interstate bus trip, your first step should always be to check the company's online safety records," says FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "There are resources and other safety information to help ensure your journey is as safe as possible." Before prospective passengers and tour organizers select a company, they should visit the FMCSA website to:
- Review individual company safety performance scores and compare them to national averages
- Check on updated safety ratings and be aware of conditional or unsatisfactory ratings, which can indicate a higher risk to passenger safety
- Verify that a company has FMCSA operating authority and carries sufficient insurance (at least $5 million for buses carrying 16 or more passengers)
Consumers can also register complaints online or by calling 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238) during weekday business hours. Passengers who notice violations such as passenger overcrowding, excessive speeding or faulty equipment can do everyone a favor by alerting regulatory authorities. (Instate-only bus company violations can be reported to appropriate city or county transit authorities or the North Carolina Utilities Commission.)
Seeking Justice for Injuries Caused by Reckless and Negligent Bus Companies
Regulation of transportation companies provides an effective check on obvious safety hazards that threaten passenger safety. But as the recent Sky Express bus accident shows, bureaucratic solutions sometimes come far too late for injury victims and families left devastated by a wrongful death.
The same is true about other transportation safety issues that lead to interstate trucking accidents, train accidents, motorcycle accidents and other motor vehicle accidents. An important part of the representation a client receives from a personal injury attorney is a close examination of compliance with the complex regulations that govern freight and passenger hauling operations.
Falsification of logbooks, maintenance delays, faulty railroad crossings and a host of other factors can lead to driver fatigue, brake failures, inadequate warnings and other circumstances that make serious and fatal accidents more likely. Just as important, bus companies, trucking companies and other commercial enterprises must be held accountable when negligent hiring and supervision leads to an accident involving an intoxicated or non-qualified driver. Thorough investigation of the circumstances behind an accident can identify potentially liable parties beyond such obvious problems as driver error or recklessness.
Article provided by Pierce, Herns, Sloan & McLeod, LLC
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