Federal safety crackdown targets Pa. buses

After nine days of surprise passenger carrier safety inspections across the country, 289 unsafe buses or drivers were removed from the roads, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and its state and local law enforcement partners conducted 2,782 inspections from March 28 to April 6, 2011. The coordinated enforcement strike force issued out-of-service violation citations to 156 drivers and 262 vehicles throughout the country.

Of those inspections, 244 were conducted in Pennsylvania and 16 drivers or vehicles received out-of service violations.

Super Luxury Tours Inc., the company deemed an imminent hazard to public safety following a fatal crash on the New Jersey Turnpike March 14, was one of the companies placed out of service during the inspections and the company was ordered to cease operations.

The Super Luxury Tours Inc. bus that crashed was headed to Philadelphia when it entered the grass on the center median and hit the overpass support and then crashed into the embankment on the right side of the road.

Two people including the driver and a passenger were killed and 40 others were hospitalized.

In New Jersey, there were 65 inspections and seven violations.

FMCSA has stepped-up safety inspections and compliance reviews of the 3,700 registered motor coach companies. Passenger fatalities have decreased from 57 in 2004 to 46 in 2009.

FMCSA encourages travelers considering passenger bus transportation to visit the agency's website and review the company's safety records at

http://www.ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/Passenger/home.asp.

Anyone who suspects that a commercial driver or carrier is unsafe should call 9-1-1 and file a report at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov.