Motor Coach Industries (MCI) and longtime operator Coach USA joined in a March 6 meeting at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the nation’s top commercial motor vehicle (CMV) regulator, in support of promoting road safety and safe motorcoach travel nationwide. In attendance were Dominic Manuele, vice president of fleet maintenance and engineering for Coach USA North America; Ian Smart, MCI president; and top leadership of both companies meeting with FMCSA Administrator Raymond P. Martinez and his team.
The meeting focused on safety awareness in the motorcoach industry and how coach operators and manufacturers can contribute to FMCSA’s new “Our Roads, Our Safety” public service campaign.
“Motorcoaches are just one part of the commercial vehicle picture in North America, but MCI, Coach USA and our entire customer base see ourselves as safety leaders at a time of incredible technological change in our industry,” Smart said. “We are grateful for the chance to meet with Administrator Martinez and FMCSA leadership in support of its road safety campaign.”
“Transportation technology is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, and at MCI, our investment in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and safety-aware coach design and continually offering training necessary to meet these standards was also part of our conversation,” Smart added.
Road safety is an increasingly complex issue. Traffic congestion and distracted driving continues to grow as a problem – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that at any point during the day, 9 percent of drivers are using cell phones,
‘’Coach USA takes safety as our top priority, and we take pride in the numerous efforts we take to make sure our passengers, teammates and fellow road users are safe,” Manuele said.
Additionally, Coach USA holds the highest safety rating from the FMCSA, which is Satisfactory.
“We appreciate FMSCA’s leadership role in educating the public on how best to share the road with motorcoaches,” Pat Ziska, MCI vice president of new coach sales, said. “As a manufacturer, we take a start to finish approach to safety, adding innovative safety technologies to the coaches we build and offering operators and their drivers technical, maintenance and training support for top safety performance. Motorcoach travel is among the safest modes of transportation in America and that’s something we can all be proud of.”
Making everyone on the road safer
FMCSA’s “Our Roads, Our Safety” campaign is directed to nearly everyone on American roads, from motorcoaches to passenger cars, trucks of all sizes, bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians, including law enforcement personnel who are especially at risk during traffic stops. The program utilizes a wide range of promotional materials including highway billboards, social media outreach and printed materials that any organization with an interest in road safety may use.
“FMCSA deeply values its partnership with MCI and Coach USA, and we are encouraged by the industry’s commitment to a culture of safety. With the Agency’s Our Roads, Our Safety national public awareness campaign, FMCSA seeks to help remind the motoring public about the best ways to operate safely around buses and large trucks. MCI and Coach USA’s support for this important campaign is extremely helpful in helping promote safe travel on our nation’s roadways,” Martinez said.
The campaign explains that the 12 million large trucks and buses, CMVs, are registered to operate on America’s roadways. They play a critical role in moving people, goods and growing our nation’s economy. However, unlike conventional two and four-wheel vehicles, heavy trucks and motorcoaches take longer to stop, make wider turns and have blind spots. FMCSA’s program raises awareness of these differences and points to adjustments that all drivers can make to manage these risks.
For more information, visit https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ourroads.