Dangers of Charter Buses Highlighted

B R A N S O N, Mo., Aug. 12 -- Red, green and blue street signs guide nearly 6,000 motor coach buses a year across the roller-coaster roads that wind through this hilly resort town.

But passengers packed into the boat-sized vehicles may not realize how risky some of the buses are.

Nearly 15 percent of the motor coaches that bring millions of tourists to Branson and other Missouri destinations every year may be too dangerous to be on the highways, a computer analysis of records by The Associated Press has found.

These buses are caught in surprise roadside inspections for everything from faulty brakes and balding tires to cracked frames — problems that put not only their passengers at risk, but also other vehicles they share the road with.

Nationwide, there were 29,771 inspections done on interstate buses in 1999. Of those, 3,259 buses — or 11 percent — were taken out of service, Department of Transportation records show.

Missouri inspectors examined 379 interstate buses in surprise inspections in 1999. They pulled 53 of those off the road for serious safety violations — a failure rate of 14 percent.

Yet, bus companies rarely pay fines or face punishment, other than the cost of making repairs, for putting unsafe buses on the roads. And thousands more that zip across state lines escape roadside inspections.

A Safety Concern for All

There are no state records that track exactly how many buses travel through Missouri each year, but tourism officials estimate it’s more than 12,000.

Branson, which does $150 million annually in motor coach business, is the favorite target for Missouri inspectors, along with sports stadiums and amusement parks in Kansas City and St. Louis.

The music resort drew an estimated 6,000 tour buses to the Ozarks last year. State regulators inspected just 161 of them, of which 14 percent were deemed unsafe and placed out of service, state Highway Patrol records show.

Missouri Division of Motor Carrier and Railroad Safety Administrator Ben Goodin called the figures scary. “This is a safety concern for the passengers of these buses and the other drivers on the roads,” Goodin said.

Inspectors say they have been stepping up safety programs and focusing more on motor coaches since Missouri became a leading tourist destination, but available figures show little improvement.

During surprise inspections in Branson in early June, officials examined 45 buses and took eight of them — or 17.8 percent — out of service.

The buses were shut down for violations ranging from bad brakes and balding tires to defective steering components. One bus was cited for having a cracked frame. Others were taken out of service for defective or ruptured suspension systems — the component that holds a bus frame off its axle.

“You must have a good suspension system, brakes and tread on your tires if you are going to take a bus through Branson,” state inspector Mark Biesemeyer said. “The hills, curves and high-traffic concentration are bad enough without the added problem of driving a defective bus.”