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November 30, 2006
NTSB URGES BAN ON BUS DRIVER CELL PHONE USE
A November 2004 bus accident in the Washington, D.C. area has prompted NTSB to recommend that federal and state governments “prohibit motor coach and school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving those vehicles, except in emergencies.”
In the 2004 crash, 11 students were injured when the bus roof was sheared off by an overpass that was clearly marked as too low for the vehicle. The bus driver had been talking on a hands-free cell phone at the time of the accident and “said that he saw neither the warning signs nor the bridge itself before the impact,” NTSB said. “Evidence indicates that he did not apply any brakes before impacting the bridge.” The Board concluded that the driver's cognitive distraction resulting from his use of a hands-free cell
phone caused the accident.
Posted by MVHAP at November 30, 2006 07:25 PM