Megabus Update

[bkelly1011]

An update on the IL crash, plus another incident in western PA earlier this week which fortunately ended with no injuries.  The Trib article notes they have had five fatal crashes in the last two years, three of them in IL (and two in downtown Chicago).  I had no idea there were that many.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-megabus-driver-0830-20120830,0,511518.story

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120830_Pastor_steers_Megabus_to_safety.html

[Cary and Don]

What are the health checks on commercial bus driver? There have been three cases of drivers passing out in our local area in the last couple years.  Two ended up in crashes and deaths.  I would have thought that this would be a rare accident but there sure seem to be a lot of them.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

[bkelly1011]

Yes; a few weeks ago one of the transit drivers in the Lehigh Valley died of a heart attack while on the job.  It was framed as a positive thing (he was a great guy, passengers loved him), but had he not realized the signs of what was happening and pulled over and stopped, it would have been a much different story.

By default, for DOT (interstate) drivers like the Megabus folks (and me), it's an every-other-year physical exam - for what it's worth, here's the form that drives the exam (pardon the pun!):  http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/safetyprograms/medical-report.pdf. 

In case of chronic medical issues (blood pressure, sleep apnea, being just some of them), the doctor can elect to not sign the form (the driver is disqualified), or have the driver examined yearly.  Drivers have to carry a card which states they are medically qualified and produce it on demand, just like their license.

To take that one step further, Pennsylvania is requiring all CDL drivers to prove medical qualification as a state requirement - not just for the federal DOT.  I don't know if other states are doing that or not.

Take care,
Brad

[bkelly1011]

... and to give them credit here, CoachUSA responded appropriately:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/08/30/megabus-driver-fired-after-close-call-incident/

[RJ]

From the article that Mr Kelly posted:

"Regarding safety and technology, there's a 1-800 number on the back of the seats of each Megabus. If a passenger calls that number and describes an emergency, Megabus can actually shut that bus down from anywhere in the country."

On*Star system??

Enquiring minds want to know!

FWIW & HTH. . .

[Dave5Cs]

There is a new law in the process of going through within the next 3 months a Doctor friend of ours told us in California. There have been to many Doctors that give physicals to truck and bus drivers on the take so to speak. He said that if a driver gets in an accident and there are injuries and or deaths that the Doctor will also be culpable if they are found have fudged the physical in anyway.

Dave5Cs

[billy6941]

In 2014, the feds are requiring dot medical info be in the computer with class A or B licenses. If the dot medical expires there is a very short time to update or CDL license will automatically be deleted and license will be downgraded to a regular license.....Bill

[dukegrad98]

...Pennsylvania is requiring all CDL drivers to prove medical qualification as a state requirement - not just for the federal DOT.  I don't know if other states are doing that or not.

It'll be interesting to see if this is challenged and if it holds up.  After all, states that have attempted something as simple as verifying U.S. citizenship in order to vote have all been smacked down by the current administration's DOJ.  I'll refrain from further comment.   

Cheers, John

[Len Silva]

...Pennsylvania is requiring all CDL drivers to prove medical qualification as a state requirement - not just for the federal DOT.  I don't know if other states are doing that or not.

It'll be interesting to see if this is challenged and if it holds up.  After all, states that have attempted something as simple as verifying U.S. citizenship in order to vote have all been smacked down by the current administration's DOJ.  I'll refrain from further comment.   

Cheers, John

I don't want to drive this to OT, but that is simply not true.  If the state knows that a non citizen has voted illegally, they have every right to pursue that.  What the current administration opposes is sending out 180,000 letters (as they tried to do in Florida) asking people to prove their citizenship because their name came up in some database.

That's like the police sending letters to 50,000 people saying "you have to come to the station and prove that you did not rob the 7-11 last week".

[billy6941]

Most of the Federal DOT regs are being delegated to each state. The 2014 requirement for both CDL & DOT physical info be stored together in the computer is from federal DOT. We have been run ragged, here in Alaska, for the last few years by being checked with Class 3 inspections, which is all paperwork and the first thing they look at is the logbook.....Bill

[dukegrad98]

Parked in a parallel universe sounds about right.   

Cheers, John