INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS In Brief
NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS Te National Transportation Safety Board
responded to a fatal motorcoach crash in August 2008 by recommending manda- tory tire pressure monitoring systems in all motor vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, including school buses, and that motorcoach passenger safety be improved. Te NTSB ruled the Texas crash that
killed 17 and injured another 38 was in part caused by low tire pressure that re- sulted in the driver losing complete con- trol of the vehicle. Meanwhile, Transpor- tation Secretary Ray LaHood released a motorcoach safety action plan that ad- dresses occupant safety. Any requirement for tire pressure monitoring systems in large vehicles over 10,000 pounds, includ- ing school buses, would come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis- tration. Te NTSB also asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to address tire pressure by requiring that it be checked during all commercial vehicle pre-trip and roadside inspections. In other NTSB news, almost three years
to the day after an accident which result- ed in the death of four high school pas- sengers, the NTSB released its final report on the Huntsville, Ala., school bus crash, citing the probable cause as a loss of con- trol of a student-driven vehicle.
NHTSA UNDER-RIDE STUDY IN THE WORKS By early this year, NHTSA hopes to re-
visit commercial truck under-rides, and this time expand the study to include straight-body truck and bus chassis
in
addition to tractor trailers because crash analysis for both is outdated. Tere is no FMVSS governing straight truck and bus chassis under-rides like there is FMVSS 223 and 224 for tractor trailers. Te contract has yet to be awarded,
though it is confirmed that Battelle Me- morial is undertaking the study for trac- tor trailers, the results of which might be used by manufacturers and inventors in developing crash mitigation strategies. Te last federal under-ride study performed for NHTSA covered the years 1997 and 1998.
Tat University of Michigan Transporta- tion Research Institute report found that 853 total crashes occurred when a non- truck hit a truck in the rear, with under-ride occurring nearly 61 percent of the time.
SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL REPORT Ten pilot projects nationwide were re-
viewed for practices and lessons learned for communities and schools wishing to tap into federal funds for developing safe biking and walking paths for students, especially in low-income areas with high crime rates. “We need to ensure that state level poli-
cies are set up in such a way that they help low-income communities that are most vulnerable to childhood obesity,” said Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, which au- thored the report. Te goal of the partnership, which
launched in 2005 after the federal Safe Routes to School program was imple- mented, is to help states develop action plans and policies and allocate federal and matching state Safe Routes funds for as- sisting local schools in site planning and school wellness programs. Te report was released one day after a study ranked the nation’s most dangerous cities for walking. Te Safe Routes report, however, high-
lights State Network and Local School Projects run in California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Lou- isiana, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia over the last two years that used $199 million in federal and state funds to encourage walking and biking programs for students. All participating schools had at least 44 percent of its student enroll- ment qualify for free lunch programs.
MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON BOARD WITH AMBUBUS Six Mississippi school districts are fol-
lowing a state plan to turn school buses into ambulance-like vehicles during public health emergencies. AmbuBus kits were placed in Hattiesburg, Jackson, Grenada, Lauderdale, Pearl and Rankin County school districts. Te program soon was scheduled to expand to Harrison, Han- cock and Covington counties.
14 School Transportation News Magazine January 2010 AmbuBus is an initiative of the Missis-
sippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Education de- signed to aid in mass patient evacuations during emergencies such as hurricanes. To convert school buses, the state dis- patched free conversion kits that include hoses and metal tubing that are easily as- sembled to form carriers for stretchers. A full conversion kit would allow one school bus, with all the seats removed, to hold 18 stretchers, medical equipment and a team of at least eight medical personnel.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON DOT REGULATIONS Te Department of Justice recently is-
sued guidelines for federal prosecutors in states that have enacted laws authoriz- ing the use of “medical marijuana.” After receiving several inquiries about whether the DOJ advice to federal prosecutors regarding pursuing criminal cases will have an impact upon the Department of Transportation’s long-standing regulation about the use of marijuana by safety‐sen- sitive transportation employees such as school bus drivers, the DOT released the following statement. “We want to make it perfectly clear that
the DOJ guidelines will have no bearing on the Department of Transportation’s regulated drug testing program. We will not change our
regulated drug testing
program based upon these guidelines to federal prosecutors. Te Department of Transportation’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation — 49 CFR Part 40, at 40.151(e) — does not authorize ‘medical marijuana’ under a state law to be a valid medical explanation for a transportation employee’s positive drug test result.” To read the full statement visit www.
stnonline.com/go/401.
AASA RELEASES REPORT ON ECONOMIC IMPACT TO SCHOOLS The economic downturn continues
to threaten the capacity of school dis- tricts nationwide, even in light of federal stimulus funds, according to a study re- leased by the American Association of School Administrators.
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