Yesterday’s fatal charter bus accident in Queens, NY is a tragic reminder of why it’s time to address driver fatigue to protect the bus drivers and the passengers they carry says the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
The union says the carriers, federal officials, and Members of Congress should be held responsible for their failure to address driver fatigue, the number one cause of these accidents according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The ATU recently produced this video to highlight this dangerous problem.
The Queens, NY accident took three lives and injured more than 16. While an investigation into the cause of this deadly accident is still being conducted, sources told CBS-TV in New York that the driver of the charter bus ran a red light, and police are reportedly looking into possibility that he fell asleep behind the wheel.
“When we hear about a charter bus accident we are almost 100 percent sure that the fatigue of the driver played a factor in crash,” says Larry Hanley, international president of ATU, which represents workers at Greyhound and other intercity bus companies. “It’s time for federal agency heads and members of Congress to stop turning a blind eye to the carnage from these preventable accidents. We need serious federal regulation of this critical, safety sensitive industry."
In the U.S., the employers of intercity bus drivers - like Dahlia Group, the operator of the bus in the Queens accident - are exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). ATU says ensuring that drivers are paid fairly for the work they put in above 40 hours per week would make them less inclined to work other jobs and push their bodies beyond the limits of human endurance, threatening the safety of passengers and other drivers on the road.
Deregulation of the industry in the 1980s lead to the creation of more than 3,700 commercial motor coach and van companies in the United States – far more than the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can monitor for compliance with safety regulations.
“Is working a 15-hour day not enough to earn a living? It’s time for the government to extend the labor protections most other workers get to intercity bus drivers and fairly compensate them for overtime work,” says Hanley.
According to the ATU report Sudden Death Overtime, which highlights the issue of intercity bus accidents, the NTSB estimates that 36% of motorcoach crash fatalities have been due to driver fatigue. It is the number one cause of fatal accidents, far above road conditions (2%) or inattention (6%). Over the last decade, three times as many people have been killed in intercity bus accidents than in commercial airlines crashes.
ATU has called for passage of the Driver Fatigue Prevention Act that would ensure that drivers are paid fairly for the overtime they work over 40 hours per week.
“How many more people need to die in bus crashes before we deal with the real problem behind these accidents,” says Hanley. “The drivers are not innocent, but they have become the scapegoats for accidents caused by these sweatshops on wheels. Until overtime regulations are enacted and enforced we will continue to see carnage on the highways.