Motorcoach drivers who walk away from serious accidents could be walking directly into a legal jam that could cost them their job, their life savings and even jail time.

State and county law enforcement authorities around the country appear to have stepped up their prosecution of commercial drivers who are involved in accidents that cause serious injuries or death.

In just the past few months, drivers in California, Alabama, North Carolina and Arkansas have been charged with felony crimes following accidents.

"You can really see the level of charges rising with accidents involving commercial drivers," notes Ken Presley, vice president of the United Motorcoach Association and a former motorcoach insurance executive.

"Commercial drivers should be aware that society's expectation of a professional driver has risen substantially and be aware of all the consequences of an accident."

He said not too many years ago, drivers involved in at-fault accidents would be charged with speeding, failure to maintain control of their vehicles and other traffic or misdemeanor offenses.

But today, its not unusual to see drivers face much more serious felony charges such as assault and vehicular homicide.

Presley points to a 74-year-old motorcoach driver who was at the wheel of a coach that ran off the road and crashed while transporting a group of U.S. Marines on Fort Rucker in Alabama last September. The crash killed one Marine and injured 22 others.

Driver nightmare

Prosecutors, who claim the driver was speeding and driving recklessly when the accident occurred, charged him in June with 23 criminal offenses, including felony homicide, seven felony assault charges and 15 misdemeanor assault charges, each of which carry jail or prisons sentences.

"This is likely someones husband, father and grandfather who almost certainly never set out to harm anyone that day, but perhaps made a really bad mistake or used poor judgment," says Presley. "I doubt he ever dreamed the fate of his senior years would be left up to an Alabama jury and/or judge."

In other incidents this year:

A 53-year-old driver in California was accused in July of 11 counts of felony vehicular manslaughter after his bus overturned in a ditch, killing 11 passengers who were bound for a casino. Police said the driver fell asleep at the wheel. (See related article on Page XX.)

A 62-year-old driver in North Carolina was accused in July of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle after he reportedly ran a red light, striking another vehicle and killing the driver.

A 29-year-old driver in Arkansas was sentenced in June to one year in jail on a misdemeanor negligent homicide charge in connection with an accident that killed four passengers.

Meantime, prosecutors in California are studying possible criminal charges against a 66-year-old driver, whose resort shuttle bus ran off the road, rolled over and landed in a ditch, killing two people and injuring about two dozen others. State police said it appeared the driver lost control when he made a sudden lane change.

Whats going on?

Although the rash of serious criminal charges may not indicate a trend, safety experts say a variety of causes could be behind them.

"Theres a lot more public pressure now and I think it is fair to say that society is less acceptable of egregious driving errors, even automobiles," said Jack Burkert, a private safety consultant. "The public no longer is willing to say it is just an accident, but rather that it could have been prevented had it not been for driver error."

Additionally, he said because motorcoach accidents usually are high profile incidents, they generally draw much more attention than accidents involving other types of vehicles.

Matt Daecher of the Daecher Consulting Group said it could just be public perception, too.

"The fact that we've recently had a larger-than-usual number of significant bus accidents resulting in serious injuries and deaths, and many of these have been run by unscrupulous operators, which tends to lend itself toward prosecutable accidents, is likely the reason it seems there have been more," he said.

He also noted that prosecutions are more likely when there has been a blatant disregard for the law that resulted in or contributed to a serious accident.

Get tough attitude

Daecher suggested, too, that efforts by law enforcement agencies and state regulators to showcase that they have implemented and are carrying out strong safety programs could be causing an increase in prosecutions.

"Considering the recent spotlight cast on carrier enforcement and their program effectiveness in identifying and managing unsafe operators, it would make sense that prosecutions of drivers who violate laws may be rising to show that enforcement and the states mean business when it comes to passenger carrier safety," he added.

He emphasized, too, that police may be making more forceful recommendations for prosecution, and backing them up with better evidence gathering that could influence a prosecutors decision.

Burkert said the prosecutions of drivers whether they are on the rise or not should serve as a reminder to operators that driver behavior is critical to their businesses.

"Just consider that with all of the trips your company has taken over the years, that one driver, on one trip, on one day and with one incident can destroy your entire company," he said.

To help combat possible trouble, he suggested, operators should take advantage of the technology in the industry that allows them to put a "copilot" alongside every one of their drivers electronic devices that record all facets of what a driver does when behind the wheel of a coach.

"What ever it takes, we need to motivate good behavior and penalize bad behavior," he stressed. "We need to tell the drivers what they need to do, teach them how to do it, and then make sure they do it."