Feds to study whether passengers are receiving safety briefings, info

ASHBURN, Va. -- Federal regulators plan to start checking to see whether motorcoach operators are providing safety briefings or information to passengers at the start of trips -- in compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration guidance.

"Its very important for the industry to take this guidance seriously and to implement a passenger safety awareness program in your company," Pete Chandler, team leader with the FMCSA commercial passenger carrier safety division, told attendees at the United Motorcoach Association Safety Management Seminar here.

"What were doing is were planning a study right now in which were trying to determine to what extent . . . the motor carrier industry is embracing and implementing this guidance," Chandler said.

FMCSA issued passenger safety information guidance in 2007, offering the industry ideas and options on how to provide pre-trip safety information to passengers. (See Oct. 1, 2007, Bus & Motorcoach News and related article below.)

Under the guidance, motorcoach operators may use almost any method to convey safety information to passengers: Video, audio, a presentation by the driver, and printed materials are all acceptable, Chandler said.

Passenger safety-briefing videos are widely available for the industry, as are pamphlets.

Working closely with the industry, the agency "decided (in 2007) to take this incremental step, regarding this topic of pretrip safety information, by issuing a guidance initially -- rather than issuing a regulation," said Chandler.

Unlike a regulation, an industry guidance does not carry the force of law.

That said, the industry should pay close attention to the guidance, he warned.

"Its very important the industry implement this guidance," he emphasized.

The agency is planning to interview passengers at major cities nationwide as they step off motorcoaches to find out if they received any kind of pretrip safety information, Chandler noted.

"We want to get at least a thousand motorcoach passenger interviews and basically what we want to know is, Did you receive pretrip safety information?" he said. "Were hopeful were going to see a very high level of voluntary compliance."

Not only should carriers implement a pretrip safety information program, they also should be vigilant to assure drivers are presenting the information to passengers if thats part of their duties, he said.

"I take motorcoach transportation for my own personal transportation fairly frequently, and I have yet to receive pretrip safety information from a bus driver," Chandler said.

Having talked with drivers at the end of these trips, Chandler concluded drivers would forget to give the information and then would fall out of the habit of giving the presentation.

"So its important that periodically, on a regular basis, you remind your drivers, during driver meetings, this is important and that before every trip its important you provide this information," he said.