Why No Seat Belts? The Passengers Ejected From The California Tour Bus Had Little Chance at Survival

The Hoover Dam tourists - who had traveled from China to visit U.S. attractions  -  who were thrown outside the bus (ejected) had little chance at survival.  Automobile, truck and bus manufacturers have been arguing in courts of law across this country for three decades that keeping passengers inside the vehicle (whether a tourist bus, common bus, car or truck) is the most important safety item. The mortality rate of passengers who are ejected outside cars, trucks and tourist buses is extremely high, with some studies showing a four fold risk of death. A recent article noted that NHTS has failed to properly identify “compromised compartmentalization” and lack of seat belts as a design defects in school buses.

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 We are required to wear seat belts on airplanes, and in cars we are ticketed if we don't buckle us or our passengers up. Why not buses such as was involved in this crash?  These buses are required to have seat belts in the United Kingdom.  The picture above is of a Starcraft which appears similar to the tour bus in the accident scene photos. These are type often used by Hotels and Airports. If this is in fact the correct model as is being reported, a Star Craft retailer lists "seat belts" as a popular options which can be ordered by the Tour company or Bus Rental company.

Popular Additional Options:

Front mud flaps; Spare tire and wheel; ...  Reading lights; High-back or medium-back seats; Flip-up armrests; Padded grab rails on seat backs; Reclining seats; Seat belts; Fire extinguisher, emergency kit; ADA wheelchair lifts; Double wheelchair doors; ....
Tour buses are not subject to the same arguments Airport Shuttles and Hotel shuttle buses make about short trips and difficult maintenance.  Tour buses often make trips on highways and at distances which make seat belts the most safety concern.  Our lawyers are investigating whether (a)  these buses had seat belts available to this tourist group, (b) the belts were working and available and (c) what these Chinese tourists were told about the use of seat belts during this trip near Hoover Dam. .

Comments

[DW Tours Fined Previously]

In 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration fined DW Tours $1,200 for two counts of using a driver before receiving pre-employment screening results, and $940 for one count of failing to implement a random drug and/or alcohol testing program.

[DW Tours Had No Seat Belts on Bus]

Driver error is now the focus of the investigation as the cause of Friday's deadly tour bus crash. Sources say the door on the bus opened as the group was driving north on US-93. When the driver, 48-year-old Han Dong, tried to close the door, he lost control of the bus and crashed. Reports also state that there were no seat belts available for passengers on the bus, only one for the driver.

[Chinese Killed in Bus Crash]

The accident ofrom a Taiwanese-run local travel agency carrying the 15 Chinese tourists and a guide to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, Nevada rolled over after swerving.

The group from Shanghai was reported to have been organized by Shanghai-based Donghu International Travel Service for separate customers

[Chinese Bus Accident]

I heard the bus accident involving Chinese Nationals was being run by a Chinese Tour Company doing business in the USA. Any info appreciated.

[Tim]

I saw an interview on CCTV4 with a man who rode inside the bus. He suffered only minor scraches. He said that he was the only passenger not dozing off. When he saw the bus move in a S-shape, he realized that the driver probably was dozing off. After that, everyone except him was thrown out of the bus. (My guess is that he either had seat belt on or more likely grabbed something.)

The interview was aired on on Feb. 1, 2009.

This tragedy shows that safety belts could have saved many lives.

[Hoover Dam Bus Crash]

Another paper is reporting there were no seat belts on the bus.

Donghu didn't dispatch a team leader but handed the group to DW Tours from south California.

Agnes Wang from Taiwan has run the California-based travel agency for about three years, according to New York-based World Journal.

"There were no seat belts on the bus, Shanghai Morning Post reported today. Some passengers were thrown out of the bus when it suddenly deviated from its lane and rolled over."

[Arizona Bus Reportedly Had Seat Belts]

Officials said the six people who died at the scene had been ejected from the bus. Arizona Highway Patrol Sgt. Tom Eaves told the newspaper there were seat belts on the bus, but it was unclear how many people were wearing them.