NTSB slams fatigue among bus drivers

Published: April 22, 2009 at 12:40 PM

WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) -- Federal investigators say a deadly charter-bus crash in rural Utah last year should be a wake-up call about driver fatigue.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday fatigue played the primary role in the crash near Mexican Hat that killed nine people and injured 44 others.

"Maybe this accident will be a call for action," acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said.

Rosenker said he was "extremely disappointed" in the circumstances surrounding the crash because of a lack of regulations on the amount of sleep bus drivers must have as well as Washington's supposed failure to require seat belts and improve structural support in the vehicles.

The Salt Lake Tribune said the NTSB took the rare step of laying some of the blame for the tragedy on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its failure to be more aggressive in pushing for safety upgrades.

The NTSB also recommended bus companies have contingency plans in place for substitute drivers to take over when a bus driver becomes sick or too tired to safely handle the vehicle.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Study: No cellphone cancer link found (50 min)
UPI NewsTrack Business
App turns iPhones into musical instruments
Experts: Holidays good time for job hunt
Report: Apple buys music streamer
Six ailing U.S. banks shuttered
Study: Medicare cut before, reforms real
fark
Happy National Ninja Day
School board considers whether after-hours bake sales should be required to sell 100% inedible "nutritional"...
Cell phones that were found to cause brain tumors, then not cause brain tumors, then cause brain...
You know what they say about assume? Well that goes double when you assume the undercover state...
Photoshop this explosion
Britain's crappiest Christmas tree, compared to a giant traffic cone, to be replaced for - you guessed...