“Major Issues”: lack of an updated log book required to show how long a driver has been behind the wheel
Albany,NY,USA -The Associated Press, by MICHAEL GORMLEY -21 March 2011: -- A sting operation by New York state transportation investigators and law enforcement a week after a horrific fatal tour bus crash included a single stop in Manhattan in which all 14 tour buses pulled over were ordered off the road, state officials said Saturday... State investigators reported nine “major issues” Friday night with the drivers, including lack of an updated log book required to show how long a driver has been behind the wheel, an official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The state Department of Transportation investigators found 10 major vehicle issues and 40 minor infractions, the official said... The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the continuing sting operation involving police statewide... Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the operation at DOT checkpoints as part of his order to investigate the Bronx crash of the tour bus, which was serving casino customers, while stepping up enforcement of all tour buses statewide... (AP photo: The state Department of Transportation investigators found 10 major vehicle issues)
* New York - Deadly Crashes highlight proliferation of low-fare bus options in Northeast
New York,NY,USA -The Washington Post -March 18, 2010: -- The past year has been one of exhilarating expansion, and deadly setbacks, for the fleets of inexpensive buses plying the highways of the Northeast...
Lured by cheap fares, convenient routes and in some cases free wireless Internet, customers queue up daily from curbside pickups in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington... The industry is in the fifth year of a solid boom, thanks to a new breed of bus service that eschews terminals and thrives on low prices Amtrak couldn’t hope to match. But a string of fatal crashes over six months also has prompted calls for tougher regulation... In September, four people died after a Megabus driver missed his exit for a depot in Syracuse, N.Y., and smashed into a low bridge on an unfamiliar parkway. Last Saturday, a bus swerved off Interstate 95 in New York City and was sliced in two by a pole, killing 15. On Monday, a bus drove off the New Jersey Turnpike and struck a bridge support, killing the driver and a passenger... The buses were all operated under different circumstances. One was owned by a big corporation with deep pockets. Another was a casino shuttle. The third was a tiny company serving mostly Chinese immigrants. Still, all three crashes happened in the dark, and on any bus route drivers are susceptible to fatigue... Brian Lancaster, a driver who cruises a route between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, N.J., said that many times he has felt like pulling over to the side of the road to rest... (Photo by Bill Kostroun/The Associated Press: NTSB workers inspect the tour bus at a New York State Police impound lot in Salt Point, N.Y. Tuesday, March 15, 2011)
* New York - Stepped-up inspections take 41 buses off road
New York,NY,USA -Lohud, by Ken Valenti -22 March 2011: -- Dozens of buses and drivers were pulled off the road in stepped-up inspections over the weekend, the state Department of Transportation said Monday... The DOT, New York City and state police — with federal border patrol agents working near Canada — inspected 164 buses from Friday through Sunday, and in 41 cases, they found violations involving either the bus or the driver that were serious enough to take the bus out of service... Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered additional safety inspections after the March 12 bus crash on the Westchester County-Bronx border that killed 15 and injured more than a dozen others... Elsewhere in the state, 138 buses were inspected with 25 taken off the road. DOT officials declined to say specifically where the stops occurred, citing the continuing investigation... Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said more attention should to be paid to the condition of buses and the safety of the passengers on them... (Photo by Matthew Brown/The Journal News: Passengers exit the number 20 Bee Line bus at the stop in front of Empire City at Yonkers Raceway this month in Yonkers)Labels: out of service
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