WASHINGTON - The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has decided against developing regulations that would require motorcoach operators to conduct passenger safety briefings.
In a letter and memo to the National Transportation Safety Board, FMCSA Administrator Annette Sandberg said that "creation of a regulatory requirement for motorcoach operating companies to conduct pretrip safety briefings for passengers is not the optimum approach due to the composition of the industry.
"That is, the majority of the motorcoach operating industry is composed of small companies with fewer than 10 buses each," said Sandberg. "Moreover, there is wide operational variance in the industry, making it inappropriate to apply one basic regulatory approach universally."
The idea of developing federal regulations that would require motorcoach passenger safety briefings - similar to those on airlines - has been under active consideration by the FMCSA for more than a year. The impetus for mandated briefings came from two recommendations made by the NTSB.
The federal crash investigation agency had urged the FMCSA to require motorcoach operators to provide passenger safety briefings, adding that the FMCSA ought to provide guidance to motorcoach operators on the minimum information to be included in such briefings.
In the spring of last year, the FMCSA held informal meetings with the United Motorcoach Association, the American Bus Association and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to discuss the NTSB recommendations.
Those meetings resulted in the formation of a working group to consider the issue. Included in the working group were representatives from Greyhound Lines, Coach USA, Setra, Prevost Car, Motor Coach Industries, Daecher Consulting Group, UMA and three federal agencies.
The working group concluded that the best approach for dealing with the issue was to develop alternative approaches to the imposition of federal regulations. The final recommendation was for the FMCSA to aggressively promote motorcoach safety best practices through a joint government-industry outreach program.
Specifically, the FMCSA, in partnership with the insurance industry, would implement a program to develop informational pamphlets and downloadable electronic files that explain when and how to use emergency exists.
These safety materials would be provided to motorcoach operators for distribution to their customers and passengers. The motorcoach companies would have the flexibility to conduct pretrip safety briefings that are tailored to their own overall safety and operational procedures.
In addition, FMCSA would strongly encourage Greyhound to establish a company policy for its drivers or other personnel to conduct motorcoach safety briefings at major stops.
In her memo to the NTSB, Sandberg said the FMCSA believes its proposed outreach effort will "garner significant near-term voluntary participation without the need for a regulatory requirement."
She asked the NTSB to endorse the idea and reclassify its recommendations as "closed."