Public officials told NBC News that the 18-wheeler sideswiped one school bus and hit another head-on, though an official report has not been released.

The buses were transporting high school seniors from Choctaw County, Mississippi on a class trip to Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.  Two teachers and the driver of the 18 wheeler are believed to have been killed in the wreck.

The owner of the bus company, Cayetano Martinez of Los Angeles, had previously been shut down by FMCSA, only to attempt to “reincarnate himself as a new carrier” and unsuccessfully attempted to gain U.S. Department of Transportation operating authority under a new name. “Martinez has shown a persistency and determination to continue operating under new entities and business,” the complaint states. The consent decree also prohibits Martinez, or any affiliated company, “from contracting with or arranging for additional transportation of passengers unless the contracted motor carrier possesses valid operating authority registration from FMCSA.”

The safety of the motoring public and the bus passengers demand enforcement, shutting down, and removal of unauthorized motor carriers from the interstate roads before such a tragedy.

Here is the official press release from the FMCSA:

Illegal Interstate Bus Company Is Ordered to Cease All Operations Immediately FMCSA Obtains Emergency Action to Shut Down Carrier

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following an emergency request by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Saturday ordered the owner of Tierra Santa Inc, the illegal bus company involved in a March 5 fatal crash near Phoenix, Arizona, to immediately cease all interstate and international passenger service.

The carrier ceased operation on the evening of Friday, March 5 at the demand of FMCSA. Saturday’s order makes that shutdown enforceable by the Court.

FMCSA’s complaint states that the owner of the bus company, Cayetano Martinez of Los Angeles, had previously been shut down by FMCSA, only to attempt to “reincarnate himself as a new carrier” and unsuccessfully attempted to gain U.S. Department of Transportation operating authority under a new name.

“Martinez has shown a persistency and determination to continue operating under new entities and business,” the complaint states.

The consent decree also prohibits Martinez, or any affiliated company, “from contracting with or arranging for additional transportation of passengers unless the contracted motor carrier possesses valid operating authority registration from FMCSA.”

The consent decree does not absolve Martinez from possible future civil penalties by FMCSA for violations of federal motor carrier safety regulations.

“It is absolutely essential that unsafe carriers like this one be taken off the road,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Safety is our number one priority at the Department of Transportation and we will not rest until this accident has been fully investigated.”

“FMCSA investigators are working tirelessly so that we can prevent such a senseless loss of life from happening again,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “We thank the United States Attorney’s Office for their outstanding partnership in bringing this emergency action forward so quickly.”

In an effort to head off litigation, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is committed to reviewing the hours-of-service rules. The FMCSA has invited the public to participate in a series of 4 listening sessions in January 2010 to gather information and comments on hours-of-service for commercial vehicle drivers. The hearings will cover topics such as driver rest and on-duty time, sleeper berth use, and loading and unloading times. Hours-of-service requirements are designed to help prevent commercial vehicle-related accidents, fatalities and injuries by prescribing duty hours and rest periods for commercial drivers.

More information on the hearings is available here.

The Agency identifies 16 regulations that are essential elements of basic safety management controls necessary to operate in interstate commerce and makes a carrier’s failure to comply with any one of the 16 regulations an automatic failure of the safety audit. These regulations cover controlled substances and alcohol testing, hours-of-service rules, driver qualifications, vehicle condition and carrier insurance responsibility. These new requirements should increase safety to the motoring public and bus passengers from rogue commercial motor carriers.

For more information on the new Entrant Safety Assurance Process rule, visit the FMCSA website .

Police say the bus driver stopped, put the lights and stop signs on. The law requires a vehicle driver to stop at least 30 feet from the stopped school bus that is loading or unloading children. This is required by law whether the vehicle is meeting the bus or traveling behind it. The driver of the vehicle shall not proceed until the bus resumes motion or the visual signals are no longer activated.

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Two people were killed in the crash of the Strain Bus Line Coach. The bus was carrying passengers back home after an outing to a casino. The tour bus returning from an Iowa casino ran off a southern Minnesota interstate and rolled over in a ditch Wednesday, killing 2 people and injuring 21, authorities said.

 The bus, operated by Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours in Rochester, was eastbound on Interstate 90 just west of Austin about 3:20 pm when it crossed into the westbound lanes and flipped over, Department of Public Safety spokesman Andy Skoogman said. The bus was carrying 23 people, including the driver, Skoogman said. 20 passengers were taken to medical centers. The driver was airlifted to a hospital in Rochester. Firefighters pulled off the bus’ windshield because the 47-passenger coach had settled on its right side, blocking the door.

Bold Lines, Inc., which does business under the name Strain Tours, is an operator with six drivers and four buses and has had no accidents in the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s web site. But federal records reveal some safety problems in the past. The FMCSA reports that as a result of five inspections during the past 2 years, 60% of the company’s buses had to be pulled out of service for violations. That compares to the national average of 22%. The company also has an Inspection Selection System rating of 76; scores between 75 to 100 mean an inspection is warranted. The company has also run into trouble related to its record keeping. In February 2002, federal transportation authorities pulled the company’s buses off the road for what inspectors described as “numerous violations” of federal transportation rules related to record keeping. The company ended up paying $20,000 to settle an enforcement case concerning drug testing for drivers, according to the FMCSA. It also paid $300 to settle a case over driver duty times and record keeping.

The U.S. Department of Transportation must fast track its action plan aimed at improving motor coach safety. The plan calls for additional requirements including installing seat belts and enhancing roof strength. It would also boost regulatory oversight of new and high-risk motor coach operators. Frequency of medical exams and medical certification should be a priority.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has reacted to the GAO report by putting in place new oversight measures, computer matching processes, new safety audit regulations and stricter compliance follow up. Paying for the needed computer upgrades will only come from a proposed $500 billion highway safety reorganization bill which has been held up by the Obama administration for a review of costs.

In the current economy and amid the national debate over costs of health care reform and rising deficits, passage of that bill seems unlikely. Unfortunately for us that means any bus or 18 wheeler we meet on the road could be the one being operated by unsafe and unscrupulous motor carrier operators.

The violators owed delinquent fines and had scores of violations, from operating without the proper license to failing to test drivers for illegal drugs and alcohol. This same tactic was used by the bus operator in a horrific Texas crash where an unlicensed charter bus carrying a Vietnamese-American Catholic group blew a retreaded tire installed on a steering axle and skidded off the highway killing 17 people in one of the nation’s deadliest bus crashes. The use of a recapped tire on the steering wheel is a violation of Federal regulations.

Investigators said that more than 500 of the tractor-trailer and bus companies were still operating. These companies pose a safety threat to each one of us on the roadway. These motor-carrier and bus companies that reincarnate themselves under a new name to evade out of service orders and fines should be prosecuted criminally and their vehicles seized.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has responded to the report by stating it has put in place a computer matching process to compare new applicants to poor performing motor carriers dating back to 2003. Still, the GAO said the FMCSA did not yet have full computer capability to identify companies that had used similar addresses and names but not necessarily exact matches of each other.

In the Texas crash, Iguala BusMex Inc. of Houston had received a Transportation Department number and was awaiting approval for a federal license when one of its buses crashed near Sherman on Aug. 8. The company was run by Angel de la Torre, who operated Angel Tours Inc., which was forced to take its vehicles out of interstate service just two months earlier after an unsatisfactory review by federal regulators.

Other cases cited by GAO, without identifying the companies were:

—Inspectors examined a bus operated by a Texas bus company in October 2006, fining it $850 after deeming the vehicle unsafe to drive. A few months later, the company was found illegally transporting 33 passengers from Mexico into the U.S. and was fined $2,380. That same month, a new company opened with two of the same drivers, three of the same vehicles, the same last name for the company owner and virtually identical addresses. The new firm operated for 18 months before it was cited for drug testing violations in September 2008; it was ordered out of service last month.

—An Arkansas motor carrier was cited for nine safety violations in May 2007, including failing to get the proper licenses and maintaining driver qualification files, and fined $3,050. A new company with the same business address, phone number and company officer name started in June 2007, three months before the old carrier was ordered out of service. The new carrier operated for more than a year before it was cited in November 2008 for violations including insufficient registration. A $2,000 fine was assessed; the company was ordered out of service in March.

—A California bus company was cited for 18 safety violations in May 2007, including drivers who refused to take mandatory drug tests, and was fined $2,200. The carrier began to correct some of its violations but failed to pay the fine. A new company with the same phone number, fax number and company officer name was formed in October 2007. FMCSA subsequently ordered the old company out of service in February; the new company was still active as of May.

A separate report by Car and Driver magazine found that texting and driving is more dangerous than drunken driving. Texting has grown from nearly 10 billion messages a month in December, 2005 to more than 110 billion in December 2008, according to CTIA, the cellular phone industries’ trade group.

Legislation has been introduced in Washington to ban texting while driving. Although enforcement may be difficult, the education and advertisement of enforcement should tune in drivers that text. 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making texting while driving illegal. The federal government is in a transportation spending mode from billions of dollars to bale out the car manufacturers to the Cash for Clunkers program. Sufficient funding to eliminate and enforce distractions of the 18 wheeler truck driver, the tour bus driver, and those of passenger vehicles is warranted to make the road way free from accidents caused by distracted drivers.

You can access government records and check out the motor carrier’s compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).  Look at the age of the fleet of buses and vehicles used by the company.  Latest is better.  Ask questions.  Check out the driver of your tour bus.  I suggest that organizations that hire tour bus companies have their attorney do a due diligence inquiry for the safety and adequate insurance.

The Shreveport church bus crashed on Interstate 20 in Mississippi, 2 miles west of the Alabama state line. The bus rolled 3 times around 10:20 a.m. near Meridian, trapping at least 2 people underneath. The preliminary cause of the crash was a tire blow-out which caused the bus to roll over. The bus had left the church at 4:45 a.m. headed to a weeklong youth event near Atlanta called Passport.

We should not forget the importance of maintenance and physical inspections of vehicles before each and every trip – this is important for family vehicles, but it is especially important for high-occupancy commercial vehicles. Safety suggests not only inspecting the tires and making sure the tire inflation is according to manufacture specifications, but also a visit to the tire dealer for their professional inspection.

Bus safety is a national concern. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues to investigate a motor coach bus rollover accident that occurred in the early evening in 2006. As a 2000 MCI 55-Passenger motor coach carrying 52 passengers was traveling northbound on Interstate 87, descending a 5% grade at an estimated 75 mph, it passed a tractor-semi trailer in the right lane, its left front tire failed, and the vehicle veered sharply to the left. The motor coach went off the pavement, through a 3-cable median barrier, and down a dirt and grass depressed center median. The motor coach struck several large rocks in the median and rolled over, coming to rest on its roof. As a result, 5 people including the driver were killed, and 48 passengers were injured.

Also, the NTSB is continuing its investigation of the 2008 Sherman, TX, motor coach bus accident involving tire failure. The chartered motor coach departed from the Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church in Houston, TX with a driver and 54 passengers on board. The chartered motor coach was in route to the Marian Days Festival in Carthage, MO. Four and a half hours after departure, the motor coach was involved in a multiple-fatality, single vehicle collision in Sherman, TX. The bus experienced a failure of a right steer axle retreaded tire.