Personal Injury Blog

Investigation Indicates NHTSA Underreports Fatal Bus Accidents Data

July 10th, 2011
Fatal Bus Crash

Passenger Bus Accident

An investigation by USA Today seems to indicate that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration underreports bus accident fatalities, with the result that the nation’s highways seem to be much safer than they actually are. According to the investigation, a number of fatal bus accidents have been left out of the administration’s official tally.

Some of the most devastating bus accidents recently, including a 2003 bus accident in Louisiana that killed eight people, are not included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s total fatality toll.  The USA Today investigation found that the federal administration has undercounted major motor coach accidents and fatalities at least since 1995.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also provided inaccurate estimates of bus crash fatalities before congressional hearings about bus safety.

The USA Today investigation used the definition of a motor coach as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and focused on data between 1995 and 2009.   According to the USA Today investigation, there were at least 42 deaths of bus passengers and drivers that were not included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s final fatality count.   Since 2003, the investigation found that at least 32 bus accident deaths were not included in the data.  There were also 42 bus accident deaths between 2000 and 2009 on midsize buses that are not defined as a motor coach by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This indicates to Los Angeles bus accident lawyers that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to accurately monitor bus accidents.  This failure has given the public and lawmakers the false impression that buses on our highways are actually much safer than they are.  According to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the underreporting of fatality numbers has actually given the bus industry the strength to go up to lawmakers and say that there is no need for safety reform, and that the nation’s highways are safer than ever.

A number of recent fatal bus accidents this year indicate that this is not the case at all.  2011 has so far been one of the deadliest years for bus safety.  There’ve been a total of 25 deaths in bus accidents this year, and dozens of people have been injured in accidents that have been horrific in their severity and intensity.

Lawmakers have already expressed concern at the under reported fatality counts by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Senators Sherrod Brown, Democrat, Ohio, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican, Texas have said that they are troubled by these reports of inaccurate accident data.  They have promised to probe this matter further.

 

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