Aug 22

[UPDATED}Transportes Los Norteños - Bus company faces more scrutiny after 2 accidents in 2 days

By PMC FMCSA, Legal Actions Comments Off

A troubled Houston bus company at the center of two accidents within two days this week has had faulty buses placed out of service 41 times since 2006 for issues such as bad tires and brake problems, records show.

Even so, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Transportes Los Norteños remains in compliance with national transportation statutes. Federal regulators said Thursday, however, that they will review the East End carrier after a harrowing accident in Dallas late Wednesday, the second involving the company in as many days.

No one was killed as the driver of a Transportes bus made a mad dash for the nearest Interstate 35 exit near the Dallas Zoo after his brakes appeared to fail, said Kimberlee Leach, spokeswoman for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office.

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Aug 16

UPDATE – FMCSA suspends new bus operating authorities, San Antonio company cited as “Imminent Hazard”

By PMC FMCSA Comments Off

 

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.

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.

After last weekend 3 bus crashes, resulting in 20 fatailities and more than 50 injuries, FMCSA seems to have gotten the message.

 

Iguala BusMex Inc. was awaiting approval for a federal license when one of its buses crashed near Sherman on Friday. The company is run by Angel de la Torre, who also operates Angel Tours Inc., which was forced to take its vehicles out of interstate service June 23 after an unsatisfactory review by federal regulators

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has stopped granting licenses nationwide for new bus companies as the agency tries to get its computer systems up to speed to cross-reference applicants properly, administrator John H. Hill said Tuesday.

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Aug 12

Politicos seek to make political “brownie points” from weekend trifecta of bus accidents

By PMC U.S. Trucking News Comments Off
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.

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.

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Aug 11

Casino Bus crashes in Mississippi and Nevada add to deadly weekend for U.S. Bus operators

By PMC FMCSA, General, U.S. Trucking News Comments Off
Investigators examine a Harrah's Casino bus that crashed in in Tunica, Miss., Sunday morning.

Investigators examine a Harrah's Casino bus that crashed in in Tunica, Miss., Sunday morning.

So what’s going on here? Are we so fixated on legally operated, safe Mexican Cross Border trucks that we totally ignore the commercial bus industry in the United States?

On the heels of Friday morning deadly crash in Sherman Texas that killed 17 and injured more than 35 people when the recapped steering tire blew out on a charter bus being illegally operated by Angel Tours of Houston, we have two more incidents involving motor coaches.

A casino bus also was involved in an accident Sunday in Mississippi that killed three people and injured more than 30.

The bus belonging to Harrah’s Tunica was carrying 43 people when it overturned at an intersection in Tunica, authorities said. Rain was falling at the time but Mississippi Highway Patrol Sgt. Leslie White would not speculate on the cause of the wreck.

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