Arkansas updates in category: Mass Transit (Airline, Cruise Ship, Train, Bus)

For years we have all been inundated with slogans like, "Buckle up, It's the Law", and "Buckle up for Safety", even "Don't be a Dummy, Buckle Up". The reasons for these slogan are obvious-- using a seatbelt reduces the risk of serious injury or death in a car wreck. However, this reasoning is lost when it comes to our most precious cargo... our children.

It has been a while since I have seen anything in the news about the Tornado Bus Driver that killed four near Forest City, Arkansas, on November 25th of last year. However, a resent article by the Associated Press said that Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long expected that the lawyer representing Felix Badillo Tapia, would make a request to be released from the case.

A tour-bus crash early Sunday killed gospel singer and songwriter Joyce "Dottie" Rambo when the vehicle ran off the highway and struck an embankment. Seven other people on the bus were injured in the wreck about two miles east of Mount Vernon on Interstate 44, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. They were hospitalized in Springfield with moderate to severe injuries.

15 passenger vans are large vehicles with five rows of seats intended to transport up to 15 people including the driver. The problem is that this van when loaded with people has a tendency to roll over easily and cause serious injury to passengers. The federal government now classifies 15 passenger vans as buses for the purposes of vehicle safety standards.

Sometimes party ties mean more to Senators than consumer safety. With the upcoming Presidential election only months away, partisan fighting is at an all time high causing important bills to stall in the Senate. The most recent bill to fall victim to this partisan squabble is legislation to modernize and fund the Federal Aviation Administration including such provisions as money for a satellite-based air traffic control system and a mandatory two-year prohibition on official contact between the agency and former FAA inspectors who go to work for airlines.