WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Nov. 8, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) introduced a bill, known as the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2007, which would require the Department of Transportation to significantly reform motorcoach safety regulations.

Among the bill’s provisions, the department would be required to set regulations for improved occupant protection and motorcoach crash avoidance, carry out improved oversight of motorcoach carriers, establish driver training curriculum, and reform licensing and inspection requirements.

The bill’s requirements include the installation of safety belts, anti-ejection glazing, firefighting equipment, emergency interior lighting, adaptive cruise control. Motorcoach carriers must also retrofit buses with equipment and materials to reduce rollover crashes, improve roof strength and crush resistance, among other improvements.

In addition, the U.S. secretary of transportation would be required to conduct a study and report to Congress on bus crashworthiness and the bill’s other regulatory changes no later than Sept. 30, 2008.

The bill, a response to the Atlanta motorcoach crash that killed six college baseball players earlier this year and the 2005 motorcoach fire that killed 24 nursing home residents during the Hurricane Rita evacuation, was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

"With an eye toward prevention, we can help avert future motorcoach accidents and make the roads safer for everyone," Hutchison said.

For the full text of the bill (S. 2326), click here.