{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-calls-out-critical-gaps-in-fatal-accident-data-involving-large-trucks-and-buses", "Cantwell Calls Out Critical Gaps in Fatal Accident Data Involving Large Trucks and Buses", "2026-08-04", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", "cantwell", "https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cantwell Calls Out Critical Gaps in Fatal Accident Data Involving Large Trucks and Buses\n\nProPublica/WBUR investigation found FMCSA undercounting bus and large truck crashes, injuries, and fatalities; FMCSA enforcement actions against carriers down 65% under Trump; FMCSA data may be missing crashes in WA\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This week, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Edward Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Derek Barrs requesting information on the agency\u2019s tracking of large truck and bus crashes following a ProPublica/WBUR investigative report that crash data is not being properly received and recorded. This lack of accurate data makes it difficult for FMCSA to appropriately sanction companies that put the public at risk.\n\n\u201cAccording to the most recent data available, nearly 5,000 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks and buses in 2024,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cThe Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses information from these crashes to identify specific truck and bus companies for targeted enforcement, which can range from a warning letter to being placed out-of-service. On June 8, 2026, ProPublica and WBUR reported their investigation found that FMCSA is missing critical crash data for a company that operates school buses, making it impossible for the agency to accurately identify and target high-risk motor carriers like these.\u201d\n\nThe ProPublica/WBUR investigation centered on an April 2025 school bus accident in Boston that killed a kindergartner after he was dropped off on the wrong side of the street. The driver was hired and trained by transnational bus company Transdev, and the investigation found that 42 fatal crashes involving Transdev over the past 10 years were missing from FMCSA records. ProPublica and WBUR also found that FMCSA\u2019s own instructions to law enforcement about the attribution of a crash to a particular company was left to the discretion of the individual police officer, directly contributing to highly variable and unreliable records.\n\n\u201cThis raises serious concerns that FMCSA may be undercounting crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, and thus jeopardizing its mission to reduce such incidents and protect the safety of Americans,\u201d continued the Senators.\n\nFMCSA data includes two recent fatal crashes involving large buses in Washington state:\n\nOctober 2024 in Tacoma: 32-year-old woman Brittanee Parker was run over by a school bus full of elementary-school children. The driver drove off. Harlow\u2019s School Bus Service, a privately-owned interstate carrier that works in five states, operates the service. The driver had four previous driving violations in King County and had a Commercial Driver\u2019s License at the time, but they had previously been cited for speeding and driving without insurance.\n\nJuly 2024 in Lacey: An Intercity Transit bus and a car collided in a roundabout. While initial articles reported only injuries, the final FMCSA data recorded a fatality at this crash.\n\nThe Senators requested information on crashes that may not be in FMCSA\u2019s database, including those involving Transdev.\n\nIn addition to the impacts of the lack of good data, the Senators also highlighted the overall lack of enforcement actions taken under the Trump Administration.\n\n\u201cMore broadly, FMCSA enforcement actions have declined since President Trump took office,\u201d they wrote. \u201cAccording to its own data, FMCSA completed approximately 1,400 enforcement cases against motor carriers in 2025, compared to nearly 4,000 in 2024\u2014a 65 percent decrease.\u201d\n\nThe text of today\u2019s letter can be found below and HERE.\n\nDear Administrator Barrs,\n\nAccording to the most recent data available, nearly 5,000 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks and buses in 2024, including 67 in the state of Washington and 20 in the state of Massachusetts. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses information from these crashes to identify specific truck and bus companies for targeted enforcement, which can range from a warning letter to being placed out-of-service.\n\nOn June 8, 2026, ProPublica and WBUR reported their investigation found that FMCSA is missing critical crash data for a company that operates school buses, making it impossible for the agency to accurately identify and target high-risk motor carriers like these. For example, in April 2025, a Boston Public Schools bus driver who was hired and trained by the multinational company Transdev, ran over and killed a kindergartener after dropping him off on the wrong side of the street. ProPublica and WBUR identified this as one of 42 fatal crashes involving Transdev that occurred in the last 10 years that was missing from FMCSA\u2019s records. This raises serious concerns that FMCSA may be undercounting crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, and thus jeopardizing its mission to reduce such incidents and protect the safety of Americans.\n\nMore specifically, in some instances, FMCSA\u2019s database listed Transdev crashes under the names of the government agency that hired Transdev or the name of a company Transdev acquired. Reportedly, FMCSA\u2019s instructions to law enforcement officers completing crash investigations do not clarify which company should be listed, but instead instruct the officer to \u201cdetermine which entity \u2018controls\u2019 or \u2018directs\u2019 the bus.\u201d As a result, whether each crash was attributed to Transdev depended on how the individual law enforcement officer completing the crash form interpreted those instructions, leading to highly variable and unreliable records.\n\nWithout accurate and complete data, it is impossible for FMCSA to properly target enforcement on unsafe companies, because the agency lacks the critical data needed to conclude they are unsafe. According to FMCSA, Transdev has been involved in 187 crashes in the last 24 months, seven of which have been fatal. And yet, FMCSA has not targeted Transdev for any enforcement actions in this time period, and the carrier\u2019s safety rating is marked as \u201cSatisfactory.\u201d\n\nMore broadly, FMCSA enforcement actions have declined since President Trump took office. According to its own data, FMCSA completed approximately 1,400 enforcement cases against motor carriers in fiscal year 2025, compared to nearly 4,000 in fiscal year 2024\u2014a 65 percent decrease.\n\nAccordingly, to better understand how FMCSA is addressing limitations of its crash data and keeping the traveling public safe by targeting high-risk motor carriers for enforcement, please provide the following documents and information no later than August 12, 2026.\n\nDescription of FMSCA\u2019s mechanisms to monitor the safety performance of commercial motor carriers operating school buses or otherwise transporting children or students, including for intrastate operations;\n\nDocuments sufficient to demonstrate how FMCSA works with NHTSA or other DOT offices to monitor and ensure the accuracy of safety records of all motor carriers transporting students\u2014including intrastate school bus operators;\n\nAll FMCSA or other DOT guidance provided to state law enforcement on the processes for recording the name of the motor carrier involved in a crash, including for intrastate motor carriers;\n\nDocuments sufficient to demonstrate FMCSA\u2019s internal processes to verify the accuracy and completeness of state law enforcement records of motor carrier crashes, including for intrastate motor carriers;\n\nA list of all inspections and crashes involving Transdev-operated vehicles, including those in which Transdev or its subsidiaries provides contracted services, such as for school districts or transit agencies;\n\nAll documents sufficient to demonstrate why FMCSA\u2019s database did not capture the 42 crashes involving Transdev that ProPublica and WBUR reported;\n\nDocuments sufficient to demonstrate why the number of FMCSA closed enforcement cases declined in fiscal year 2025;\n\nA list and description of any changes FMCSA has made to its processes or thresholds for pursuing enforcement actions against high-risk motor carriers from January 20, 2025, to present; and\n\nThe number of FMCSA staff that were responsible for analyzing inspection and crash data to identify high-risk carriers in calendar year (CY) 2024, CY 2025, and January 2026 to present, respectively.\n\nWe appreciate your prompt response to this request, and continued collaboration to improve safety on our roads.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-08-05T07:37:37Z", "2026-08-05T07:38:44Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-calls-out-critical-gaps-in-fatal-accident-data-involving-large-trucks-and-buses"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0173508673906326, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}