• SITE
• HOMES
• MOTORS
• CAREERS
• STUFF

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is showing quick reaction time and genuine caring for her constituency in the wake of the tragic bus accident near Sherman, Texas, a week ago in which 17 people died and many others were injured.

Hutchison, the Republican senior senator from Texas, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. a Democrat, are proposing a new law titled The Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2007 (S.2326) in a laudible effort to improve bus safety.

Pointing to the Texas tragedy and other bus accidents that have also claimed lives recently in Mississippi and Nevada, Sen. Hutchison said, “I urge Congress to make this a priority after the August recess so the roads will be safer for everyone.”

Brown added, “Congress must move quickly to pass comprehensive passenger safety standards for motorcoaches,” adding, “I’m encouraged that my colleagues recognized this need and scheduled a hearing on our bill. Swift congressional action will prevent more bus trips from becoming tragedies.”

Hutchison’s leadership on the issue of bus safety, as part of her role as ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, comes from her deep conviction that, “Such tragedies are becoming all too common, and many of these deadly accidents are preventable.”

The bill being forwarded by Hutchison and Brown would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to upgrade federal safety standards applicable to motorcoaches and take action to improve the operational requirements of drivers and companies.

The legislation would lead to the adoption of available safety technologies, result in stronger oversight and compliance with federal safety rules, and encourage better training of motorcoach operators to protect passengers from death and injury due to ejection, rollover, roof crush, and fires, Hutchison says on her Web site.

That would include mandatory seat belts in buses and stronger materials on walls and the roof. Investigators have pointed out that some of the passengers in the fatal crash near Sherman were thrown about the bus, and some were ejected, because they had no seat restraints.

The Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on bus safety on Sept. 18.

It is our hope that hearing will be the start of serious movement on this issue.

And one hopeful sign was the federal government’s move this week to halt the licensing of new bus companies until further investigation into the issue of safety is done.

The Motor Carrier Safety Administration believes some bus companies that are banned from interstate service merely apply for new licenses under different names. This, of course, must stop, and this federal agency has taken a big step in that direction.

Hutchison says she will continue to advance her motorcoach safety bill. “These recommendations have languished for years without federal agency attention and action,” she says.