FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FHWA 58-99
Monday, August 30, 1999
Contact: David Longo
Tel: 202-366-0456
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Slater Announces
Proposals Leading
to Improved Small Bus Safety
U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Rodney E. Slater today announced a Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) proposal to require businesses involved in interstate commerce operating
small buses or vans to comply with three rules that would help the FHWA
establish an objective basis for applying federal safety regulations.
"We are committed to
a goal of reducing fatalities from truck and bus crashes 50 percent in 10 years,
and this proposal will help achieve the goal and significantly improve safety,
which is President Clinton's highest transportation priority," Secretary
Slater said. "The data we derive will help target investigations and
enforcement--passenger carriers of all sizes must ensure before all else that
the service they offer is safe."
The proposal would require
these businesses operating vehicles for hire and designed or used to transport
between 9 and 15 passengers, including the driver, to complete a motor carrier
identification report. The purpose of this would be to allow the FHWA to
determine the number of companies currently operating, the number of drivers
employed, and vehicles operated. It also would require these companies to mark
their vehicles with identification numbers assigned by the FHWA and to maintain
records on crashes.
In a separate rulemaking
notice also published today, the FHWA is temporarily exempting the operation of
small passenger-carrying vehicles from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations (FMCSR). The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
applied the FMCSRs automatically to these businesses on June 9, 1999. The
exemption will remain in effect for only six months while the agency reviews
comments and information provided in response to other aspects of this
rulemaking proposal.
The interim final rule and
notice of proposed rulemaking are available in the U.S. Department of
Transportation=s docket (Docket Numbers FHWA-1997-2858 and FHWA-1999-5710). The
notices and all comments on these proposals may be viewed at
http://dms.dot.gov
on the Internet.
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