Consultant urges operators to outfit their coach drivers with an on-board camera

ASHBURN, Va. Before pulling out of the garage to start a run, a motorcoach driver should always check to be sure he or she has a logbook and other paperwork, a cell phone, a credit card and a camera.

Thats right, a camera.

Having a camera just might turn out to the most valuable tool on board the coach if there is a minor accident, says industry consultant Matthew Daecher of the Daecher Consulting Group.

Daecher, one of about a dozen speakers at the second annual United Motorcoach Safety Management Seminar here last month, said investigating an accident is like assembling a puzzle -- the more pieces you have the easier it is to solve.

And, adds Daecher, a camera is an essential tool in helping to put together the puzzle pieces.

According to the safety consultant, most motorcoach accidents take place some distance from company offices, making it generally impossible for the safety officer or other company executives to go to the scene to investigate.

And, he warns, its not a good practice to rely on police accident reports because police do not do a very good job investigating minor accidents and they seldom are concerned about who might be liable for the crash.

Instead, a coach driver who is armed with a camera -- and has the proper training in how to use it and what to shoot -- offers the next-best option.

"Pictures are the best thing to document everything," says Daecher, noting that photographs are not only accurate and unbiased but they also can assist the memory and impeach witnesses.

He says drivers can be taught what pictures can be most helpful to the motorcoach operator and its insurance company, including photographs that show vehicle damage, crash impact points, liquid spills, debris, skid marks, road alignments, surface conditions, road hazards and traffic controls.

Daecher insists that having a camera onboard is so important that it should become part of the coachs routine preventive maintenance check list.

In addition to taking pictures, he says drivers also should be instructed to obtain the names and addresses of witnesses and to interview them if possible.

Daecher stresss that every crash, no matter how minor, should be thoroughly investigated. "If you dont investigate you wont know what happened and you wont know how to prevent it from happening again," he maintains.

Another seminar speaker, Tim Delaney, president of Lancer Insurance Co., called on motorcoach carriers to work with chambers of commerce, business groups and other organizations at the state level to help turn the tide in areas where juries and judges are too friendly to plaintiffs in accident cases.

He said judges, juries and attorneys in more than a dozen states he calls them "hell holes" have swung too far to the side of plaintiffs who are suing insurance companies after accidents and it is resulting in more and higher monetary awards. "The facts mean nothing," he said. "The war is on and it is costing us millions of dollars."

Among the states cited by Delaney were Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, along with some counties in other states, including Los Angeles County in California and Cook County in Illinois.

Delaney suggested, too, that motorcoach carriers campaign for limits on the amount of money state courts and juries can award in accident cases. "Twenty-nine states have no caps and those that do, they are set so high it really doesnt matter," he noted.

He said the trend can be reversed if everyone becomes involved and works together. If they dont, he cautioned, things could turn disastrous for the motorcoach industry. "We all have to get much more aware if we are going to survive. We must unite at the state level. You can change things. You have much more power than you think," he emphasized.

In other seminar sessions:

Lancer executive Bob Crescenzo suggested that motorcoach carriers develop post-accident plans so they know how to handle drivers who are involved in an accident. "Post-accident management starts long before the accident," he said. He recommended the plans be structured, but not so rigid they are difficult to follow. "And, whatever you say youre going to do, you should do," he added.
Carmen Daecher of Daecher Consulting urged operators to stop buying traditional classified newspaper ads to find new drivers and, instead, use unconventional methods, including conducting job fairs, running print and radio ads featuring pictures and testimonies of current drivers, setting up booths at community fairs, advertising in church or neighborhood publications, and contacting retirement organizations and communities. "We are more and more convinced you should redirect your dollars to those sorts of recruiting activities," he said.
Ron and Susan Shapiro of Occupational Athletics recommended that operators begin paying more attention to the health and physical condition of their drivers to help hold down insurance and medical costs. They said operators should give their drivers opportunities to become healthier with offerings that could include regular tips on how to eat healthy, exercises they can do while working, stress and fatigue reduction techniques, and structured health improvement programs run by private companies.