Unsafe truck companies allowed to operate
Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the agency that investigates transportation accidents, issued a statement that was critical of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency responsible for oversight of the truck and bus industry. The NTSB, because of its investigatory role in truck and bus accidents, has a great deal of insight as to the types of safety violations that lead to deadly truck accidents, and criticized the FMCSA for a lax response to companies' failures to comply with safety regulations. The NTSB cited four accidents within the last 12 months as examples of where the FMCSA had evidence of the companies involved safety violations, yet failed to act prior to the fatal crashes that left 25 dead and 83 injured. Two crashes involved bus companies that had various violations, including defective brakes, inappropriate tires, numerous vehicles placed out of service and a history of driver…
