Feds to toughen tour bus driver training

Recent fatal crashes of tour buses will mean stronger federal training standards for entry-level commercial bus drivers, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday.

LaHood, writing on his blog, Fast Lane, cited the March 12 bus crash on Interstate 95 in the Bronx that killed 15 people and the March 14 crash on the New Jersey Turnpike that killed two as "a sober reminder that we can and we must do better."

In separate but related developments Wednesday, federal transportation officials said that Super Luxury Tours Inc., whose bus was involved in the New Jersey crash, was placed out of service and its operating authority was suspended because of violations of insurance requirements.

Additionally, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman said the bus involved in the Bronx crash was traveling at speeds of up to 78 miles per hour.

New York State officials have said Ophadell Williams, the driver in the Bronx crash, never should have received a commercial driver's license because he had several unresolved traffic tickets and his driving privileges had been suspended. At the time of those violations -- which included a speeding ticket in 1995 and two summonses for driving without a license -- he identified himself to police as "Erik Williams," which his attorney says is his nickname.

LaHood said that by this fall, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will adopt new training standards requiring all new commercial bus drivers to complete 80 hours of training, with at least 32 hours of behind-the-wheel training.

Until now, federal regulations did not stipulate how many hours a bus driver must train before obtaining a motor-coach license, but instead listed the skills in which drivers must demonstrate proficiency during a road test.

New York State officials stepped up inspection efforts after the Bronx crash, with additional safety checks and traffic stops for tour buses.

Earlier this month, in a blitz of statewide inspections conducted over four days, a quarter of the 164 buses checked were ordered off the road because of vehicle or driver violations that put passengers in immediate jeopardy.

The 41 major violations found then included at least two on Long Island. In a parallel effort, State Police issued 45 moving violations to tour bus drivers across the state, including nine on Long Island over two days.

On Sunday, Garden City police and state inspectors removed from service two of 10 buses they inspected, one for tire problems and one for electrical troubles.