Motorcoach Bus Safety Alert

BUS SAFETY ALERT:  On the day NTSB will issue final report on 2008 multiple 
fatal motorcoach crash, victims’ relatives and safety advocates to warn 
unsuspecting Americans about motorcoach bus dangers, call for swift federal 
action to protect nation’s bus passengers. 
WHAT:            MEDIA AVAILABILITY with relatives of motorcoach occupants 
killed August 8, 2008 in a crash on US-75 near Sherman, Texas, which 
resulted in 17 deaths and 39 injured.  They will join leaders of Advocates for 
Highway and Auto Safety (_www.saferoads.org_ (http://www.saferoads.org/) ) at 
the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) public meeting where the 
safety agency will examine the bus crash and issue its final report and safety 
recommendations.  The relatives and safety advocates will warn American 
motorists about the dangers of motorcoach buses, and will urge swift action by 
Congress to enact the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act (S.554 and HR 1396) and 
regulatory action by U.S Department of Transportation (DOT). 
WHEN:            TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009 at 9:00am ET 
(1) 9:00am: Crash victims’ relatives and vehicle safety advocates will 
provide statements to the media just before the 9:30am start of the NTSB 
meeting. 
(2) Immediate after NTSB issues final report and safety recommendations, 
the relatives and safety advocates will provide reaction statements. 
WHERE:         Outside the Board Room and Conference Center of the National 
Transportation Safety Board, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, 
DC 
WHO:              -- Dr. Yen-Chi Le (Houston, TX), daughter of deceased, 
Catherine Tuong Lam. 
-- Mr. Nghia Nguyen (New York, NY), whose sister-in-law’s father, Khiem 
Nguyen, died.  
-- Jacqueline Gillan, Vice President, Advocates for Highway and Auto 
Safety. 
-- Jerry Donaldson, Senior Research Director, Advocates for Highway and 
Auto Safety. 
BACKGROUND: 
On August 8, 2008, the crash of a motorcoach traveling on US-75 in Sherman, 
Texas, resulted in 17 deaths and 38 injuries.  The victims’ relatives and 
safety advocates will call for swift passage of the Motorcoach Enhanced 
Safety Act (S.554 and HR 1396) to make long overdue safety upgrades to federal 
vehicle and driver safety standards, including seat belts, protection against 
dangerous motorcoach interior impacts, crush-resistant roofs, protection 
against fires, and occupant ejection prevention countermeasures, such as 
advanced glazing on windows, stability technology to help stop rollovers, and 
better federal and state oversight of unsafe motorcoach operators.  The number 
of motorcoach crashes and fires reported since the Sherman, TX crash is 42, 
and there have been 50 since the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act was 
originally introduced in November 2007. 
The General Accounting Office (GAO) launched the investigation following 
the Sherman, TX, crash and found that the bus operator had been "reincarnated" 
after being ordered off the road just weeks earlier.  The company 
re-registered using the same mailing address as its predecessor.  The GAO report (“
Reincarnating Commercial Vehicle Companies Pose Safety Threat to Motoring 
Public�??) found that nearly 10 percent of interstate bus operators who have their 
federal permits revoked for safety violations can quickly resume business 
by "reincarnating" themselves as new companies, and that 20 of the 220 motor 
coach operators ordered to stop service by US DOT in 2007 and 2008 remained 
on the road by re-registering under a different and sometimes same name.   
In 2006, more than 630 million passengers took trips in motorcoaches -- 
almost as many passenger trips as U.S. commercial airlines carried that year.  
Today, nearly 3,700 interstate motorcoach companies operate more than 34,000 
motorcoaches, and thousands of other motorcoaches operate in intrastate 
commerce.  Each year the number of new interstate-registered motorcoach 
companies increases by about 900. Yet, DOT does not require motorcoaches to have 
the same basic occupant protection safety features routinely designed into 
passenger motor vehicles. 
MEDIA CONTACT:  Bill Bronrott, 202-270-4415; _bbcomm@aol.com_ 
(mailto:bbcomm@aol.com)