The recent fire Dec. 31,'06 that destroyed a Peter Pan-Bonanza coach has added yet another chapter to the ongoing industry-wide discussion of motorcoach fires. Media attention on motorcoach fires reached its incendiary point near Dallas, Texas in Sept. 2005, when a "Global Limo" E-model MCI burst into flames killing 23 nursing home patients who were being evacuated from Houston to Dallas ahead of a forecasted Hurricane Rita landfall. The fire was reportedly caused by a bad bearing in the rear right wheel, according to NTSB final investigation. It is also likely that oxygen tanks stored improperly caused the explosions that rapidly devastated the fully involved fire scene.

A recent Fung Wah accident (Sept. 5, 2006) taking place on a hairpin exit ramp off of I.395/I.290 in Auburn, Ma. resulting in a rollover and many injuries, resembles a horrific Travel Today (Kristine Travel/Travel Pack) accident in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada (April 27, 2001) that resulted in four fatalaties, and many more injuries.

In that accident, the motorcoach was chartered by the Newton School District to transport, at night, music band members to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with two drivers. At the end of Rte 1 Northbound from Saint John, NB., the road ends at either an eastbound ramp to Rte. 2 (TransCanada Highway) East, or ends at a sharp right ramp to Rte 2 West.

I am simply fed up with reading newspaper stories about catastrophic motorcoach collisions or rollovers resulting in passenger ejections and fatalities/or critical injuries. Just like an ostrich, our industry leaders, govt. agency safety leaders, and legislative bodies have their proverbial heads in the sand.

For decades, authoritative heads have said that safety belts on busses and motorcoaches are unnecessary due to factors such as "compartmentalization", "monocoque motorcoach construction", high-back seats, and lower G-forces during an average motorcoach collision compared with auto vs. auto.

Part 40 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations deals exclusively with drug and alcohol testing procedures. There are over 167 pages of legal procedures and tests described in this chapter. It is very complex even for the most savvy amongst us!

Random testing of CDL drivers at a transportation company ranges from 25% to 50% of the driver corps annually. These random tests are conducted throughout the calendar year on a month-to-month basis.

It is detrimental to the career of the professional motorcoach operator that he or she knows what is contained in any medicine or Over-the-Counter (OTC) drug he is taking. Just as the operator has to take personal responsibility of any safety violation that exists on a motorcoach (i.e. slow brakes, etc.) and repercussions from said violations, so is he responsible for his actions caused by taking medications, OTC products, or of course products containing alcohol.

It's getting more and more difficult to conduct a fluid NYC sightseeing tour in any way with a 45 ft. motorcoach. Seriously speaking, its getting to the point where the driver has to bring with him body armor to protect him from the overzealous ticket-writing police, the rude and discourteous yellow cabs, not to mention those obnoxious bicycle "pedicabs" that are all over the place now, most without any tail or headlights.

The city MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) has made a point of taking over block upon block of sidewalk real estate with their enlarged regular bus stops (for the articulated New Flyer Bus) and their interboro Express bus services (brown signs). These are all no stopping zones, so if a cop is having a bad day with his wife; you're looking at a hefty fine!