Mexico Trucker Online

Federal safety officials Monday ordered Iguala BusMex and Angel Tours Inc. to cease commercial operations while last week's fatal accident in North Texas is investigated.

Bill would mandate “Black Boxes” in all CMV’s

Two U.S. senators today urged tougher regulations aimed at improving bus safety in response to last week’s deadly accident that killed 17 Vietnamese Catholics from Houston.

Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued statements calling for the passage of their legislation, known as the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act.

The pair introduced the bill, which would require bus owners to provide seat belts, fire extinguishers and other safety enhancements, last fall after a bus crash in Georgia killed several college athletes from an Ohio college.

The bill is now scheduled for a hearing before the Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee next month, according to Brown’s office, after a National Transportation Safety Board report on the Georgia crash renewed attention on the issue. Truth is, this bill has been languishing for almost a year, not getting out of committee.

“Such tragedies are becoming all too common, and many of these deadly accidents are preventable,” said Hutchison, the ranking member on the committee, in a written statement. “I urge Congress to make this a priority after the August recess so the roads will be safer for everyone.”

I imagine we can put this in line behind Oberstars pathetic little effort at stopping the Mexican Trucks.

This Bill, S-2326 on the surface looks good. It would requires seat beats on all coaches, premium fire suppression systems and the driver’s being trained to use it.

It would also requires, better driver training, which is not a bad thing, and medical standards putting the CDL and DOT Medical combined. Doing an end run around the public comment process, it would almost mandate BLACK BOXES ON ALL COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

That’s right boys and girls! Do we see the evil personage of Joan Claybrook in this bill? Under the guise of safety, this bill would shove EOBR’s right up our asses and “Black Boxes” down out throats, circumventing any rulemaking or safety studies!

Need further proof? Here is the applicable section:

SEC. 9. SAFETY ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE DRIVER FATIGUE.

(a) In General- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations requiring that all commercial motor vehicles used by a motor carrier in interstate commerce be equipped with electronic on-board recorders linked with vehicle engine functions and electronic control modules that accurately record commercial driver hours of service and provide real-time tracking of driver and vehicle location.

(b) Applicability- The regulations prescribed under subsection (a) shall apply to all commercial motor vehicles used by motor carriers in interstate commerce beginning on the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Let’s keep this in mind folks! When it comes from the FMCSA, it comes in the form of rulemaking. If it comes out of Congress, it is law. A bit of difference there.

So here we have Senator Kaye Baily Hutchinson of Texas, a decent enough Senator and Willie Cunningham’s old buddy Sherrod Brown reintroducing this bill that has languished in committee for almost a year. Let’s see what else they want to put into law.

Here’s a good section too they are trying to do an end run around FMCSA. Medical qualifications.

SEC. 8. IMPROVED PHYSICAL FITNESS OVERSIGHT AND COMMERCIAL DRIVER MEDICAL CERTIFICATES.
`(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTION- The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a Medical Review Board with the following functions:

`(A) Providing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with medical advice and recommendations on medical standards and guidelines for the following:

`(i) The physical qualifications of operators of commercial motor vehicles.

`(ii) Medical examiner education.

`(iii) Medical research.

`(B) Providing the Secretary with advice and recommendations concerning the criteria to be used for evaluating medical examiners for admission to the national registry established under this section.’.

Remember the recent hearings where Representative James Oberstar made such a jackass out of himself? Was about Medical qualifications and here we have a bill in the Senate….

You get the picture!

I may be reading this wrong, but I doubt it! Read Senate Bill 2326 and decide for yourself.

While we need to do so to curb these outlaw operators who totally ignore the law for profit, we should not use this as an excuse to push through pet projects of lawmakers and the so called watch dog groups that will do nothing to promote safety.

Black boxes would have done absolutely nothing to have prevented any of the three bus crashes this past weekend.

Cause and Effect

In the Sherman case, the bus owned and operated by Angel de la Torre was illegal because the operator had been barred not once, but twice, from traveling outside Texas under two different company names.

“It’s inexcusable on the federal and state level that someone could do what was reported,” Jim Hall, who chaired the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 to 2001, declared of Friday’s crash. “They lost their permit, reapplied, and continued to operate. That’s just an embarrassment to the whole system.”

Three years ago, a bus bearing an expired and illegal tag belonging to another bus was sent to Bellaire to pick up elderly evacuees trying to escape a looming Hurricane Rita. Hours later, the poorly maintained passenger coach erupted into fire, killing 23 aboard.

And yet, not one of the recommendations made by the NTSB after the 2005 Hurricane Rita bus fire have been acted on by the federal government, safety officials say.

Keith Holloway, spokesman for the NTSB, said the agency’s lengthy accident investigation into the Rita bus fire resulted in 17 recommendations in June 2007, including four key bus safety regulations.

‘Still waiting’ for NHTSA

However, Holloway confirmed there has been no response from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on drafting new federal regulations to implement the recommended changes.

“We’re still waiting,” Holloway said. “They could be figuring out how to respond, whether they’re are going to adopt our recommendations or propose an alternative.”

Rae Tyson, an NHTSA spokesman, said no change in federal regulations will be proposed until the agency is convinced it would be effective in improving safety.

“You can’t simply sit down with a piece of paper and start writing” a new regulation, Tyson said. “It’s got to be based on research and exploring a number of alternatives to decide what the new standard will be.”

Meanwhile, the industry and a spokesman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry question whether anything can be done about a bus operator bent on breaking the law. Jerry Prestridge, executive director of the Texas Bus Association, an industry group, said new regulations wouldn’t necessarily have an effect if owners don’t follow them.

He noted, for example, that investigators say de la Torre’s company made plans to leave the state with passengers, even though it didn’t have the authority from federal regulators.

“He is an illegal operator,” Prestridge said. “My point is the Texas Legislature could pass all kinds of laws … and it wouldn’t make any difference to a guy like that.”

It is ironic this discussion happening about American coaches at the same time some are trying to convince the American public that Mexican motor carriers, specifically trucks, are unsafe, dangerous and should not be on the road.

For years now, Mexican motor coaches have been required to have seat belts, fire suppression systems, well trained drivers, all the things this bill calls for. Additionally, most of the long haul bus lines in Mexico and the Mexican buses that operate in the United States from Mexico, have an assistant driver. There is also a sleeper compartment for the off duty driver to rest in.

Seems to me, once again, Mexico is slightly ahead of the curve on things.

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