LaHood: Random bus inspections working

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that random inspections of interstate passenger buses have resulted in almost 300 unsafe drivers or buses being pulled off the road.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) inspected 2,782 buses, LaHood said, and removed 262 of them. LaHood added that 156 drivers were given out-of-service citations.

Local law enforcement officials were working with FMCSA on the inspections. 

“We know that these inspections and reviews are saving lives — passenger fatalities have decreased from 57 in 2004 to 46 in 2009, a 19 percent reduction,” LaHood wrote on his “Fast Lane” blog on the Department of Transportation website.  

“And that’s with more than 750 million passengers traveling by motor coach every year,” he added.

LaHood said the department would continue to push for more bus safety.

“Working side-by-side with our state and local law enforcement partners, DOT wants to ensure that every passenger bus company and every driver operates as safely as possible,” he wrote on his blog. “And we will continue to use every resource at our disposal to shut down passenger bus companies and drivers who put passengers in harm’s way.”

The push for more bus safety follows recent crashes in New York, New Hampshire and New Jersey that killed more than 15 people.

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee's Surface Transportation subcommittee held a hearing on the issue last month.