Buses are used daily by many Pittsburgh residents to get from one place to another. Some buses are restricted to cities and transport passengers going relatively short distances. Others may travel across the country. Regardless of the type of bus or the distance it regularly travels, throughout the nation buses are at times involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents.

There are of course many reasons that bus accidents occur. Sometimes they are due to driver negligence either on the part of the person behind the wheel of the bus or another vehicle. Other times, equipment failure is to blame. When a problem with the bus itself is the cause of multiple accidents, many people, including the federal government may take note.

This is the case in a U.S. manufacturer of buses. Motor Coach Industries Inc., reportedly the leading maker of intercity buses, is under investigation by federal safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Specifically the NHTSA is looking into allegations of failing drive shafts on around 4,000 buses in the MCI D-Series. Investigations sometimes are the precursor to recalls.

According to a complaint made by the parent company of Greyhound bus lines, since March 2010, several instances of problems with drive shafts have surfaced. When drive shafts break they may affect brake lines if they fall on them. In addition, one expert said the shafts could flip a bus by catching on a portion of the road. In two situations the part's failure reportedly resulted in injuries and even some fatalities when the person behind the wheel of the bus lost control.

Whatever the determination of the NHTSA, all would likely agree such investigations are warranted if they could possibly prevent further injuries or deaths from occurring.

Source: SF Gate, "Feds probe bus defect that may have caused crashes," Tom Krisher, March 26, 2012