GAO reports violating truck and bus companies stay on the road

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of tractor-trailer and bus companies ordered to shut down because of federal safety violations ranging from suspended licenses to possible drug use have stayed on the road by using different names, investigators say.

The study by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, comes a year after an unlicensed charter bus carrying a Vietnamese-American Catholic group blew a retreaded tire installed on a steering axle and skidded off a Texas highway, killing 17 people in one of the nation’s deadliest bus crashes. The use of recapped tires on the steering wheels is a violation of federal regulations, the study stated.

The GAO report found that at least 20 of the roughly 220 commercial bus companies that had been fined and ordered out of service in 2007 and 2008 by federal regulators evaded compliance by setting up shop under a new name, the same tactic used by the bus operator in the Texas crash.

The investigation found offenders in at least nine states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, New York and Washington. The violators owed tens of thousands of dollars in delinquent fines and had scores of violations, from operating without the proper license to failing to test drivers for illegal drugs and alcohol.

Another 1,073 commercial trucking firms are also believed to be possible “reincarnations” after incurring fines and violations, often using the same address, owner name, employees and contact numbers. In all more than 500 of the tractor-trailer and bus companies were still operating as recently as last month, investigators said. “These companies pose a safety threat to the motoring public,” wrote Greg Kutz, GAO’s managing director for special investigations, noting that there were about 300 fatalities from bus crashes last year. “We believe that these carriers reincarnated into new companies to evade fines and avoid performing the necessary corrective actions.” He warned that the number of violators is likely higher, since the GAO reviews only identified companies based on exact matches of information.

RESEARCHERS SAY TANNING BEDS MAY CAUSE CANCER

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A recent AAJ article states that the CBS Evening News (7/28) reported that, according to a paper published online July 29 in The Lancet Oncology, tanning beds may “pose as big a risk as tobacco and asbestos.” The article noted that Medical correspondent Jon LaPook, MD, explained that the “international panel of cancer experts upgraded the warning on tanning beds from probably to definitely able to cause cancer.” The article noted that the study concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30.

Senate Bill Introduced to Restore Rights of Injured Service members

According to a recent AAJ article the legal rights of servicemembers injured by medical negligence would be restored under legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate. The article states that a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Feres v. United States prevents servicemembers on active duty from holding the government accountable for non-combat related injuries. This decision strips military families of their right to seek redress through our civil justice system. The Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act (S. 1347 / H.R. 1478), sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), would offer servicemembers injured by medical negligence the same protections currently provided to veterans.

San Francisco train crash- operator investigated

According to a July 19, AP report “The operator of a light-rail train that crashed [in San Francisco], injuring dozens of passengers as well as the operator, came under scrutiny on Sunday as federal investigators tried to figure out why he turned off the automatic controls moments before the accident. Ted Turpin, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the operator switched the controls from automatic to manual in a tunnel near the West Portal Station and that he never engaged the emergency brake. Had the operator kept the autopilot on, Mr. Turpin said, the train would have slowed down before arriving at the station and most likely not have careened into a parked train while going 23 miles per hour.”

Disney monorail death to be investigated

The Chicago Tribune reported on July 7 that in addition to OSHA, “the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it will investigate the deadly collision on Walt Disney World’s monorail, an unprecedented move by a federal agency best known for probing airline crashes.”