Blog: Mass Transit Accidents

A New Jersey motorist was killed when the vehicle she was driving collided with a North Jersey Coast Line train. Fortunately, no passenger on the train was injured in this accident. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. Motor vehicle accidents colliding with trains too often happen in this manner. Warnings or barricades may […]

We have previously written about a bus accident in Virginia which occurred in late May, leaving four passengers dead and injuring dozens of others. According to authorities, the 37-year-old man was fatigued and fell asleep at the wheel at the time of the wheel. According to the Washington Post, the driver of that bus now […]

In the second major bus accident this year on the Turnpike in Middlesex County, a tour bus crashed in South Brunswick on the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday, sending 18 individuals to area hospitals. The accident occurred shortly before noon in the southbound truck lanes around two miles north of Interchange 8A. Sources said the […]

We have written about the tour bus which crashed on July 17 in upstate New York between Niagara Falls and Trenton, New Jersey. Sources weren’t clear about the number of passengers injured in that crash, but said up to 19 were taken to area hospitals for treatment of minor injuries. Last Thursday, police said they […]

The latest in a series of tour bus crashes in the northeast occurred on Sunday, leaving two passengers dead and three injured. The bus involved in the crash was operated by Bedore Tours of North Tonawanda. At the time of the crash, the bus was carrying 37 tourists from India to Niagra Falls from Washington […]

In our previous post, we began discussing a recent decision by Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood in which he put an end to a common practice in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of granting 10-day extension periods to companies found to be in serious violations of safety regulations. Such extensions are meant to give companies […]

Under federal regulations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may grant an extension only when a company submits a plan to address the noted safety problems. The extensions were apparently used to ensure that any shutdown would survive a court challenge, and give companies a chance to improve their compliance with safety regulations. According to […]

On Wednesday morning, a collision between a commuter bus and an SUV on Route 495 left at least five people injured. The motor vehicle accident reportedly occurred just on the Lincoln Tunnel helix around 8 a.m. in Weehawken when an SUV crossed over a row of yellow divider poles, entered into the opposing lane and […]

Yesterday, a transportation subcommittee chaired by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) held a hearing to consider recommendations to improve bus safety. The recommendations, which come after two disastrous commercial bus accidents earlier this month, include putting seat belts on buses, equipping buses with stronger roofs and windows, requiring onboard devices to monitor driver fatigue, and improving […]

A week after a fatal bus crash on the New Jersey Turnpike involving a bus owned by Super Luxury Tours of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the head of Washington D.C. based bus company trade association American Bus Companies is saying that authorities should have penalized the company for its poor driving record prior to the accident. The […]