Roadside safety inspections for motorcoaches can be time consuming, inconvenient and disturbing to passengers.

Someday, not too far off, many of them could be trouble free, over within seconds and not even noticed by people on board the coach.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says wireless roadside inspections carried out while the coaches are rolling along the highway are on the horizon.

The agency, which has been researching the idea for years, is gearing up to begin testing a variety of technologies that could be used to carry out the "no-stop" safety inspections for both buses and commercial trucks, according to Jeff Loftus of the FMCSA technology division.

He said testing is scheduled to get under way by next March with a handful of yet-to-be solicited volunteer motorcoach and trucking companies in Kentucky, Tennessee and New York. And, if all goes well, then a much broader and more extensive pilot program would be started sometime in 2012.

Although the wireless inspections would produce much of the same information obtained during physical roadside examinations, they would not replace them.

Physical inspections still would be needed because the wireless technology would be unable to detect critical vehicle safety issues such as cracked tires, worn brake lines or leaking hoses and oil or fuel lines.

However, Loftus said the wireless inspections would allow regulators to dramatically increase the number of inspections they could do each year, which likely would reduce accidents by getting more bad drivers, dangerous buses and illegal carriers off the road.

The testing program will involve simple electronic equipment that can identify license and U.S. Department of Transportation numbers off passing vehicles, as well as much more sophisticated software that can read and transmit data from electronic driver log books, onboard recorders and fleet management equipment devices that carriers now use to monitor various vehicle components and functions.

The Kentucky sites will test the license and USDOT number readers, the Tennessee sites will study cellular technology, and the New York sites will examine transponders.

The information will be collected from the company and from its vehicles as they pass staffed and un-staffed stations located at various sites along the highway and then transmitted to federal and state regulators for evaluation. The results of each electronic inspection would then be sent to state roadside inspectors and the motor carriers that own or operate the vehicles.

"We will want the information to be transparent to the bus and truck companies so they know what is going on," emphasized Loftus.

State and federal regulators would evaluate the data to determine whether the driver has a valid commercial license and is not violating the hours of service regulations, whether the vehicle is properly registered and licensed and had not been ordered out of service, and whether the carrier is operating legally and had not been shut down by authorities.

If a serious violation -- that requires immediate action -- is spotted, law enforcement authorities could be alerted and if they are patrolling in the area they could be asked to stop the vehicle for a traditional roadside inspection. For less immediate problems, regulators would notify the company by mail, telephone or a personal visit.

Unlike speed and red light camera enforcement programs used by local law enforcement agencies, a violation would not result in a ticket being mailed to the driver or the company.

Loftus said a critical part of the program will be to reduce accidents by zeroing in on the drivers because recent bus and truck crash causation studies have shown that most accidents are linked to driver-related causes.

"The ability to identify the driver and how long they have been driving, while the vehicle is moving, is the unique aspect and key focus of this research program," he noted.