December 2006 - NTSB Recommends Ban on Cell Phone Use by Bus Drivers

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has urged the federal and State governments to prohibit motor coach and school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving those vehicles, except in emergencies. "Professional drivers who have dozens of passengers' lives entrusted to them should devote their full attention to their task," NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said in a statement.

The recommendations are contained in the NTSB's report on a non-fatal bus accident that occurred November 14, 2004, on the George Washington Parkway in Alexandria, Virginia. The motor coach was traveling from Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Mount Vernon, Virginia. At about 10:40 a.m., the bus was traveling in the right lane of the Parkway when it struck a bridge over the Parkway. The bus was 12-ft (3.7-m) high. There were signs warning of the 10-ft, 2-in clearance for that lane and the 13-ft, 4-in clearance for the left lane.

During the impact, the bus' roof was destroyed and 11 students were injured, one of them seriously. The bus driver had been talking on a hands-free cell phone at the time of the accident, and he said that he saw neither the warning signs nor the bridge itself before the impact. Evidence indicates that he did not apply any brakes before impacting the bridge.

The NTSB concluded that the driver's cognitive distraction resulting from his use of a hands-free cell phone caused the accident. The use of either a hand-held or hands-free cellular telephone while driving can impair the performance of a driver.

The NTSB has recommended that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the 50 States and District of Columbia, prohibit CDL holders with a passenger-carrying or school-bus endorsement from using cell phones while driving those vehicles, except in emergencies. The NTSB also recommended that the bus associations develop formal policies for their members containing the same proscriptions.

The Board noted that the extent of the problem of cell phone use is unknown because of inadequate statistics, and the Board reiterated previous recommendations to the 20 States that do not have driver distraction codes on their accident investigation forms to add interactive wireless communication device use to those forms.

In its report, the NTSB also found that the low vertical clearance of the bridge, which does not meet current standards, contributed to the accident.

The full report will be available, in a few weeks, on NTSB’s Web site, (www.ntsb.gov/Surface/highway/highway.htm), under Publications.

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