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Oct 7, 2008 6:47 am US/Central
Texas Motorcoach Crash Focus Of NTSB Hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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A tour bus lies in a water filled ditch after crashing on a rural two lane road near Williams, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2008.
Steve Yeater/AP
A National Transportation Safety Board investigative hearing on a fatal January bus crash in Texas will focus on commercial passenger vehicles that do not comply with federal safety standards.
The NTSB hearing on the crash near Victoria, Texas, that killed one man begins Tuesday and continues through part of Wednesday.
"From our investigation of the Victoria accident, we have found that some U.S. motorcoach operators may be taking advantage of loopholes in the system to register foreign-made motorcoaches in this country, even when the vehicles do not meet U.S. safety standards," NTSB member Debbie Hersman, who will preside at the hearing, said in a statement.
The bus that crashed in Texas was carrying 47 passengers on a return trip to Houston from Mexico. The driver veered off the road and overcorrected, causing the bus to flip on its side and strike a guardrail. Pablo Mendez was killed and his wife and daughter were injured along with dozens of other passengers. The arm of one of the female passengers was amputated after the wreck.
Capricorn Bus Lines Inc. of Houston owned the bus and leased it to International Charter Services Inc., also of Houston.
Capricorn was not allowed to travel out of Texas, but by leasing the bus to International Charter Services, the bus could make the trip into Mexico.
Motorcoach crashes have been in the headlines throughout the year. Initially, many of the bus crashes have been blamed on a missed curve, a fatigued driver or tire problem. But investigations in several crashes have uncovered bigger problems such as poor screening of drivers and bus companies that were shut down but were still operating in the U.S.
Advocates for increased motorcoach safety say the crashes have highlighted gaping holes in regulation of the passenger bus industry and the need for tighter enforcement.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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