Driver Fatigue and Cheap Bus Crashes
46 violations of drivers being fatigued. According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records, SkyExpress Inc. buses have been involved in four crashes, with an injury or fatality — it didn’t specify which — during the two-year period that ended May 20.
The company’s drivers have been cited for 17 unsafe-driving violations, including eight for speeding, since 2009, according to a report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It received a 62.9 percent rating, meaning it performed worse than nearly 63 percent of comparable transportation companies. Other recent crashes, including one involving another company in March that killed 15 people returning to Chinatown from a Connecticut casino, demonstrate that the bus industry will not take essential steps to protect passengers’ safety unless required by the government, according to the Washington Post news report. The Senate is considering a bus safety bill, which would help prevent further interstate bus fatalities and catastrophic crashes.