Fatal Virginia bus crash raises concerns about the long list of unfulfilled safety recommendations

A commercial bus crash in Virginia that killed five people and injured dozens of others has raised questions about the driver, the company that employed him and the overall safety of the industry. It's not yet clear what could have prevented last week's crash because the National Transportation Safety Board investigation is just beginning. Still, it highlights the inherent dangers whenever a bus or semitruck crashes into other vehicles — even if riding a bus is much safer statistically than driving a car. While collision-avoidance technology and emergency braking systems are standard on many new cars, commercial buses still lack them — even in the face of longtime NTSB recommendations and proposed regulations to require them. Observers say the circumstances of the crash that happened early Friday also raise questions about driver fatigue. Court records, meanwhile, show that the E&P Travel Inc. bus driver, who now faces manslaughter charges, was previously ticketed for excessive speeding, along with other drivers for the same company. While those tickets might not have been enough to automatically revoke the man's commercial driver's license, industry experts say even one similar violation would normally get a driver fired. "The fact that there was one conviction and another citation and this driver is still on the road goes against industry norms and best practices in a pretty significant way," said Fred Ferguson, who leads the American Bus Association trade group. That NTSB crash investigators also have no power to enforce their recommendations factors into why so many have gone unfulfilled for years, as the industry and regulators often focus on the potential costs involved. "Everybody walks a walk in talking safety at the industry level, at the congressional level. And then at the end of the day, it's the same old excuses," said Jim Hall, who was chairman of the NTSB during the 1990s. "And if it costs money, there's going to be a strong resistance." A history of speeding Federal rules say that a driver who is convicted twice within three years for driving more than 15 mph over the limit should be disqualified for 60 days. The bus driver in last week's crash, Jing Sheng Dong of Staten Island, New York, was previously convicted of driving 73 mph (117 kph) in a 55 mph (89 kph) zone in Virginia in 2024, and received a second ticket in March in Annapolis, Maryland, that accused him of driving a motorcoach 72 mph (116 kph) in a 50 mph (80 kph) zone. The 48-year-old is now facing five charges of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving. But Ned Einstein, an expert witness in some 700 transportation lawsuits, said he doubts the criminal charges filed after the crash will be effective at making roads safer because Dong didn't create the conditions that likely contributed to it. "They never hit the heart of the problem and never go after the person who's responsible, and the person that's responsible for these things is the person that runs the company," Einstein said, explaining that drivers have to take the shifts they are given while company owners set the schedules and run the businesses. Friday's crash also happened around 2:30 a.m. ET — roughly five hours into a trip from New York to North Carolina. That makes former state trooper Jeremy Disbrow, who helps train law enforcement with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, wonder whether fatigue may have been a factor. Bus drivers are prohibited under federal law from driving more than 10 hours or working more than 15 hours without taking at least eight hours off to rest. Electronic logs have helped better enforce those rules than paper logbooks, although there have been instances where the former have been tampered with. Records show that another E&P Travel driver was involved in a similar crash in North Carolina in 2024 that injured nine people after the bus failed to slow down for a traffic control vehicle that was performing a moving lane closure. The bus hit that vehicle, and a third vehicle rear-ended the bus. The bus driver, Pei Jie Lu, later pleaded guilty to failure to reduce speed. That crash occurred three months after Lu was ticketed in Maryland for negligent driving and changing lanes unsafely, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in that case in September 2024. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said federal investigators are looking into Dong's background as well as the company that hired him and the school that trained him. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is also trying to confirm that New York followed the rules when it awarded Dong a commercial driver's license. Duffy has worked to strengthen and enforce standards for CDL holders, but that effort has focused on truck drivers. A long list of unfulfilled recommendations Even when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agrees that something is a good idea, like automatic braking, it often takes years to finalize a rule requiring it. Commercial buses, for example, have only been required to have seat belts since 2016. Numerous NTSB recommendations for buses and other commercial vehicles have never been adopted, including stricter standards to reduce driver fatigue and ensure drivers get enough rest between trips. A rule to require collision-avoidance technology in commercial buses and trucks was proposed in 2023, but it remains pending. Ultimately, it falls to regulators, Congress and the industry to adopt them. Unlike regulators who must conduct a cost-benefit analysis, the NTSB isn't required to consider how practical its recommendations are. It simply urges safety improvements to prevent future tragedies. The Transportation Department didn't immediately respond this week to questions about why so many recommendations go unfulfilled. Many bus companies do invest in safety The American Bus Association trade group works to promote safety measures and Ferguson said driver-monitoring technology, such as inward-facing video cameras and advanced telematics systems similar to those used by major auto insurers, has become common. Some of those systems can even send alerts about driver behavior to a bus company. Ferguson also said some companies have installed collision-avoidance technology on their buses because "the difference between catastrophic accidents and not having catastrophic accidents is you keeping your company." But cost is a factor — a new motorcoach previously cost roughly $650,000, and the industry is now dealing with the impact of 10% tariffs. Ferguson said newer buses have the most safety features, but increasing costs will slow upgrades. "Operating safely not only is morally and ethically what they believe in, but it's good business," said Ferguson, whose group represents about 40% of the 1,800 companies that operate about 50,000 motorcoaches across the United States and Canada. Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer Allen G. Breed contributed from Wake Forest, North Carolina.