School bus safety is under scrutiny following a probe into two separate crashes in the US, which together left 37 people injured and 12 dead. There were a handful of big issue factors at work, including driver distraction with mobile phones, a lack of collision avoidance technologies and event recorders, occupant protection issues and medical fitness. However, behind it all was a worrisome gap in driver oversight.
Experts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently gathered to discuss the safety issues identified in the investigations of these crashes. In both cases, the lack of proper oversight on the drivers fitness for the job was startling. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt opened the meeting with the comment: “The school bus is statistically the safest way to get to school.” However, he then went on to observe: “In both crashes we saw poor driver oversight by school districts and the contracted motor carriers.”
The driver in the Baltimore, Maryland crash was prone to epileptic seizures since childhood. Unless an individual can prove he or she has gone a prolonged period of time without seizures, this condition generally prevents anyone from accepting a commercial driving job. While the driver informed certain medical practitioners of the seizures and was observed having a seizure while at work, the fact never made it into his official work record. He also had his license revoked, suspended and refused several times since the 1970s. To get around this he committed driver’s license fraud – illegally obtaining multiple licenses at different times using different names or a variation on the name spelling.
The driver in the other crash, which occurred in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was clearly unfit as well, albeit in a different manner. Numerous complaints about his driving behaviour had been submitted – he was prone to swerve unexpectedly and brake hard in order to encourage the children to stay in their seats. Because these complaints were submitted to different agencies – some to the school, others to the school district or the carrier – that weren’t communicating with each other, the scope of the problem was obscured. Although the driver had only been employed in his position for five months, he had two prior crashes before this one. He was also using his mobile phone when the crash occurred.
“Neither the school district nor the carriers addressed the drivers’ poor performance. Together they indicate a systematic problem in driver oversight that should be addressed across the nation,” Robert Molloy, Director of the NTSB’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS), told the meeting.
Like many crashes, a handful of factors were at work behind these incidents and the NTSB is moving forward with several recommendations. Some address the way the carriers document medical issues and how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration advises certified medical examiners. Others offer guidance on the reporting and tracking of driver complaints. There are also technological suggestions for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding requirements for collision avoidance systems, automatic emergency braking technologies and lap/shoulder belts.
“It is generally reported that over 90% of highway crashes are due to human error. However, the NTSB has found that in most cases, the root causes lie beyond the vehicle operator,” Rafael Marshall, Human Performance Investigator at the NTSB’s OHS, told Automotive World. “These causes encompass such things as the design of our roadways, our vehicles, our infotainment systems, including cell phones, and the regulations that support safe and efficient driving.”
