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January 31, 2000 9:45 AM, EST

NEW ORLEANS — The National Transportation Safety Board will put truck and bus safety under the microscope in a series of reports to be released over the next few months in an effort to change the “safety culture” on U.S. roadways, according to its chairman.

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Best known for its investigation of aircraft disasters such as the 1998 explosion of TWA Flight 800 off the New York coastline, the independent federal agency has spent the past year examining truck and bus safety. Information was collected during public hearings and accident reviews conducted by the board in cities across the United States.

The latest session on the commercial driver license program was held Jan. 20 and 21 in New Orleans. Its findings will be part of reports that have taken a close look at transportation and related safety issues, including two notable fatal accidents that killed a total of 37 people in 1999.

Among the topics that underwent intense examinations are:

• Motor carriers’ issues, including intrastate trucking.
• The commercial driver license program.
• The motor carrier safety implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
• The deadly collision in Bourbonnais, Ill., between an Amtrak passenger train and a truck, whose driver was operating the vehicle with a temporary license despite numerous citations.
• The fatal motor coach accident in New Orleans involving a bus driver under the influence of marijuana and suffering from numerous medical problems.

For the full story, see the Jan. 31 print edition of Transport Topics. .