Because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) believes in providing the safest travel for bus passengers, they have been conducting a year-long investigation on several different bus companies. Following this investigation, FMCSA declared many motorcoach operations as an imminent hazard to public safety.
As a result, FMCSA ordered 26 bus operations and ten individual bus companies to cease operation, which is the largest crackdown on safety the agency has ever made. FMCSA shut down I-95 Coach, Inc., Apex Bus, Inc., and New Century Travel, Inc. These three companies oversaw a large network of other bus companies. This shut-down included:
- 1 bus ticket seller
- 9 active bus companies
- 13 bus companies that were already ordered to stop service but were still operating
- 3 bus companies applying for operating authority
The various bus companies are located in Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. All of these bus companies had many safety violations that included:
- Bus drivers driving without valid commercial drivers’ licenses
- Drivers with hours-of-service violations
- Failure to perform drug and alcohol testing of bus drivers
- Operating busses that were not regularly inspected and repaired
These violations can put passengers and other motorists on the roads at risk of being injured in a Georgia bus crash. Although FMCSA and the Department of Transportation have taken aggressive efforts to improve bus travel, bus accidents in Georgia still can occur.
If you were injured in a bus crash, call an Atlanta bus accident attorney at Shane Smith Law today at 770-HURT-999. Just for calling, we will offer you a free case consultation.