Transportation Secretary Wants Power to Remove Unsafe Buses Immediately

According to a recent Bloomberg Government online article, Transportation secretary Ray LaHood told bus industry executives and motor vehicle regulators in September that he wants the authority to immediately remove unsafe commercial buses from the road.

Federal law now allows bus companies to keep operating for 45 days while they appeal a safety rating that would remove a bus from service. LaHood called the 45-day waiting period “ridiculous.”

LaHood noted that there have been eight bus crashes causing 28 deaths so far in 2011. “When a motor coach company is not delivering people safely, they should be shut down,” he said.