The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has introduced a proposal to mitigate injuries and fatalities in collisions involving buses.
A major goal of the proposal is preventing passenger ejections in an accident.
Between 2013 and 2014, measures were implemented that required that seat belts be utilized by all passengers on motor coaches and improved structural integrity of vehicles during a rollover accident.
The most recent proposal would require a new impact test for glass on buses and motor coaches that would simulate a collision between an occupant and a window on the opposite side of the bus. The proposal also calls for improving exit latches.
According to a DOT Motorcoach Safety Action Plan released in 2012, 61 percent of fatalities in bus wrecks between 2001 and 2010 were related to rollover accidents, 13 percent were due to roadside accidents, and 26 percent involved multi-vehicle or miscellaneous categories.
During the same time period, ejection of passengers during a rollover resulted in the majority of fatalities, according to the DOT.
