A bill aimed at avoiding fatal bus accidents has been finally approved by the U.S. Senate. Said bill has been applied in line with the fatal accident that occurred on March, 2007 in Atlanta which claimed the lives of five people.The bill was drafted and introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Said bill is expected to increase safety requirements for motor coach drivers and companies.
The bill would regulate safety by requiring seat belts and stronger systems to protect passengers of such buses, improve driver’s skills and require non–glass or glazier windows to prevent passengers from being thrown out of the vehicle during accidents.
The bill’s concept stemmed from the previous fatal bus accident that happened in Atlanta on March 2, 2007, which killed 5 members of an Ohio college baseball team.
After several years, the Senate finally passed the bill last Wednesday, but it was not yet approved as a law. It will soon be, after some guidelines or rules and regulations have been created. According to rules, it has to be published first before it can be implemented as a new law.
Brown, through his spokesperson, said that he is anticipating that a similar measure will be included in the bill as it moves towards the House for dispute.
Aside from implementing safety and avoiding road traffic incident, this bill is further expected to save lives of thousands of people.
The said bus accident made the Senate realize that there was a strong need for a new and modified law regarding road traffic incidents since the bus driver in question missed seeing a road exit ahead of time. Consequently, the bus he was driving fell to the highway below and killed 5 baseball team members, the bus driver himself, and his wife.
Though the bus driver has had its negligence, the National Transportation Safety Board still blamed the city for its failure to provide proper stop signs at the area.
The state agreed to pay $3 million to the victims of said bus accident. In fact, it is the maximum legal settlement amount for victims of vehicle wrecks.
Though bus drivers could be extra careful in driving, bus accidents and other road traffic incident undeniably still can’t be avoided.
