NTSB ACTING CHAIRMAN TELLS CONGRESS THAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE ON MOTORCOACH SAFETY

[NTSB Press Releases <NTSBPressReleases@xxxxxxxx>]

Title: NTSB ACTING CHAIRMAN TELLS CONGRESS THAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE ON MOTORCOACH SAFETY

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                      NTSB PRESS RELEASE
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 18, 2008
SB-08-40

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NTSB ACTING CHAIRMAN TELLS CONGRESS THAT MORE NEEDS TO BE
DONE ON MOTORCOACH SAFETY

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Washington, D.C. - National Transportation Safety Board
Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today told a Senate
subcommittee that, "although motorcoach travel is one of the
safest modes of transportation, there are still many
improvements that can be made to make it even safer."

Testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee's Subcommittee on Surface
Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety
and Security, the chairman highlighted the need for
improvements in motorcoach occupant protection systems, in
strengthened government oversight of motorcoach operators,
and in more rapid deployment of advanced motorcoach safety
technologies.

For decades the Board has been concerned with a range of
motorcoach safety issues as a result of numerous Board
investigations. While most highway accidents are
investigated at the state and local level, intercity
motorcoach accidents typically involve a substantial number
of people traveling in a single vehicle, so these kinds of
crash investigations are frequently brought to the Board.

"These passengers are often students or elderly persons who
rely on motorcoach travel and have placed their safety in
the hands of a professional motorcoach operator," said
Acting Chairman Rosenker. "That factor demands that
motorcoaches meet the highest level of safety."

The issue of Motorcoach Passenger Safety is on the Board's
Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements because of the
critical importance of this issue and the lack of
substantive progress on the Board's recommendations. Some of
the Board's earliest recommendations, related to occupant
protection features, date back to the Board's origin in
1967, while the newest recommendations involve the
development of performance standards for new technologies,
such as adaptive cruise control and collision warning
systems.

The full text of the Acting Chairman's written testimony can
be found on the NTSB's website under Speeches and Testimony.

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Media Contact: Bridget Ann Serchak
                   202.314.6100
                   bridget.serchak@xxxxxxxx

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