New York – Curbside motorcoach carriers have more fatal incidents, higher death rates and higher out-of-service rates resulting from driver violations compared to scheduled conventional carriers, according to a report (.pdf file) released Oct. 31 by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Researchers defined curbside motorcoach operations as those “in which interstate motorcoach carriers conduct scheduled trips from one city to another city or a destination and originate or terminate at a location other than a traditional bus terminal.”
The fatal incident rate for curbside carriers from January 2005 to March 2011 was 7 times more than conventional carriers – 1.4 fatal incidents per 100 vehicles for curbside carriers, compared with 0.2 incidents per 100 vehicles for conventional carriers, NTSB reported.
According to agency officials, bus driver fatigue is a contributing factor in many crashes.
