Drivers of commercial trucks and buses are now prohibited from texting under federal guidelines. The federal regulation goes into effect immediately. Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, the Department of Transportation said in a news release.
In the wake of the tragic school bus accident, Connecticut is now considering passing a law requiring school bus passengers to wear seat belts. Currently, school buses are not required to even have seat belts for passengers. Only a handful of states have laws requiring seat belts in school buses. Wearing seat belts is a proven safety benefit. Seat belts should be mandatory in school buses.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a fine against Continental Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines for stranding passengers in Rochester, Minn., for nearly six hours last August. It is the DOT’s first-ever fine for an airport stranding.
The agency “levied a total civil penalty of $100,000” against the carriers for their roles in the Aug. 8 incident, according to a press release. DOT also penalized Mesaba Airlines $75,000 for the way it handled ground operations.
An investigation by the Aviation Enforcement Office found the three carriers violated laws that prohibit unfair and deceptive practices in air transportation, DOT’s statement said.
“I hope that this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will also use what we have learned from this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays.”
The failure to provide written notice within 90 days or the failure to provide adequate written notice will destroy the ability to bring a successful claim in Court. It is not sufficient for purposes of written notice that a police report or incident report was generated. For all the reasons above, it is important to contact a lawyer immediately after the incident and for the lawyer to provide proper and timely written notice of the claim.
U.S. transportation regulators are questioning the safety of some Boeing 777s built with Rolls-Royce engines. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is not convinced that procedures recently adopted by airlines flying Boeing 777s will prevent a potentially catastrophic power loss related to a defect in the Rolls-Royce engine. According to reports, Boeing 777s with Rolls-Royce engines could lose power in freezing weather due to accumulation of ice in the fuel supply. This engine defect has already been implicated in two accidents. One incident occurred last January when a British Airways flight lost power in both engines during final approach and crashed at London’s Heathrow Airport. The aircraft’s landing gear was ripped off. Only one passenger suffered serious injury. In the second incident a Delta Air Lines Boeing 777 suffered a similar loss of engine power while flying between Shanghai and Atlanta in November. The pilot followed a standard procedure to recover engine power and landed the jet safely at its planned destination. Following the two incidents, Boeing issued new procedures to help prevent ice accumulation, and to recover thrust in cases of ice blockage. The NTSB said that while the mandatory procedures did reduce the risk of ice blocking the fuel supply, the added burden placed on pilots who have to implement them might cause other hazards. The NTSB is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration require Rolls-Royce to redesign the engine’s heat exchanger to prevent ice from restricting fuel flow. It is also recommending the redesigned part be installed within six months of its certification to fly or during an aircraft’s next scheduled maintenance. Yet despite the urgent nature of its recommendation, the NTSB has not called for the grounding of Boeing 777s with Rolls-Royce engines That means that around 220 Boeing 777s with the potentially deadly engine flaw will stay in the air.