U.S. Department of Transportation
Office of Public Affairs
1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20590
www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm
FMCSA 13-10
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Contact: Candice Tolliver
Tel: 202-366-9999
U.S. Department of Transportation Strengthens Commercial Bus Safety with National Passenger Carrier Strike Force
WASHINGTON – At an event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. today, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Ann Ferro joined state and local officials at a commercial bus checkpoint to observe the safety inspection of motor coaches, tour buses and other commercial passenger vehicles.
The Washington, D.C. checkpoint was part of FMCSA’s annual national Passenger Carrier Strike Force, during which federal, state and local police agencies conduct thousands of motorcoach, charter bus and other passenger carrier inspections at popular travel destinations across the U.S. The sweep runs from August 23 to September 4 and is taking place in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
“Safety is our number one priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We owe it to the millions of passengers who travel on commercial buses to make sure that every bus on the road is as safe as possible.”
“By taking the Passenger Carrier Strike Force to some of the nation’s busiest travel destinations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be able to reach a greater number of carriers and remove unsafe vehicles and drivers from the road,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “This safety initiative is a crucial part of our efforts to prevent crashes and save lives.”
In addition to these strike force sweeps, FMCSA performs roadside safety inspections of commercial buses on a daily basis throughout the year. In 2009 alone, FMCSA and its law enforcement partners inspected more than 130,000 commercial buses, which led FMCSA to place 4.3 percent of bus drivers and 7.6 percent of buses out-of-service for violations ranging from significant vehicle deficiencies to hours-of-service non-compliance. FMCSA also performs strike force sweeps of household goods movers and drug and alcohol compliance throughout the year.
FMCSA strongly encourages travelers considering passenger carrier transportation to visit the agency’s website and review a carrier’s safety records at http://www.ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/Passenger/home.asp. FMCSA also encourages the public to report unsafe carriers and incidents to its safety hotline at 1-888-DOT-SAFT or online at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov.
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