Bus safety experts examine Texas rollover crash

Loopholes in laws made it possible for a Mexican motorcoach to operate in the United States despite not meeting U.S. safety standards, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said during a recent public hearing. 

Hersman chaired the hearing on Oct. 7-8 to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding a motorcoach rollover crash that occurred Jan. 2 on U.S. Route 59 near Victoria, TX.

One passenger was fatally injured and 46 passengers and the driver sustained injuries in the crash. The motorcoach, which entered the United States from Mexico and was being operated by a Houston-based charter bus company, overturned and struck a guardrail. It rolled over onto its right side and came to rest blocking all lanes of Highway 77. A subsequent collision occurred when a pickup truck collided with the motorcoach after it had come to rest.

Preliminary investigation findings show the operator of the bus registered it in two different states using false or storefront addresses and employed a third party to complete the paperwork. “It appears that the complicated steps the operator took to register the bus were designed to take advantage of loopholes in the registration process that would allow him to obtain a state license plate for a bus that did not meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” Hersman said.-National Safety Council