Fatal bus accidents renew interest in safety bill
By JOAN LOWY Associated Press
March 30, 2011
Deadly bus crashes over the past decade have claimed dozens of lives, including college baseball players in Atlanta, Vietnamese Catholics in Texas, skiers in Utah and, this month, gamblers returning to New York’s Chinatown.
This spate of crashes has rekindled interest in legislation that would require regulators to act on longstanding bus safety recommendations.
At a Senate hearing Wednesday, senators were expected to press Transportation Department officials to explain their slow progress implementing bus safety recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board, some of which have lingered for more than 10 years.
The recommendations are directed at large buses known as motorcoaches, and include requiring seatbelts for all passengers and electric onboard recorders to show how many hours a driver has been behind the wheel.
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