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In Deadly Bus Crash Aftermath, A Call for Greater Scrutiny

Sunday, March 20, 2011

As officials call for greater scrutiny of the tour bus industry following the deadly Bronx bus crash, a vehicle checkpoint established in the wake of the I-95 wreck that left 15 dead found 100 percent of buses stopped had safety violations

All of the 14 buses stopped on Friday night had safety problems that resulted in a total of 54 criminal summonses.

The checkpoint was created in the aftermath of the news that the driver involved in the crash allegedly lied in order to secure his commercial driver's license.

In response, Senator Charles Schumer, speaking at a press conference in Chinatown, proposed that the state Department of Motor Vehicles should conduct an audit of all drivers' licenses held by tour bus drivers and revoke the licenses of drivers who shouldn't have initially obtained one.

"Looking after a crash, or a spot check while the driver is behind the wheel, that's good," said Schumer, "but what would be better is preventing these people who shouldn't be driving, from getting behind the wheel in the first place."

Schumer said an earlier audit may have prevented the Bronx bus crash. He said any problems with standards in the industry pointed to "a lack of both care on some of the bus companies and a lack of scrutiny by the DMV."

Word of the enhanced scrutiny met with mixed responses from passengers lining up for discount bus rides.

Hartley Abdekalimi, a student at Boston University, said he was "generally pretty satisfied" with low-cost carriers Fung-Wah and Mega Bus, which he's been riding since he started college. But the accident had an effect on him.

"It definitely made me think, wow, chances are that could've been me."

One rider felt officials were going "overboard" with the sudden examination of the industry.

"It's kind of safer to know that the drivers driving the bus are good," said Wilvens Rosirus, who lives in Boston and has been making the trip for 10 years, "but I think they're going a little bit way too far with it."

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