Senator Hoylman Calls on New York State to Investigate Sightseeing Bus Company with Spotty Safety Record

New York, NY— Today, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman sent a letter to the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) to request an investigation into whether sightseeing bus operator Twin America LLC (“Twin America”) has complied with DOT safety regulations, including the mandatory reporting of accidents. Hoylman also asked DOT to make public all information the agency has collected about the accident history of bus operators across the board, and to expand accident reporting regulations to include incidents resulting in property damage, even if no persons are injuredTwin America, which operates the Gray Line New York and CitySights NY bus companies, has been involved in two recent accidents in Senator Hoylman’s district. On June 18, one of the company’s buses struck and seriously injured a woman in the West Village and on August 5, a collision between two Twin America-owned buses in Times Square injured more than a dozen people.

Existing state regulations require operators of double-decker sightseeing buses subject to DOT inspection to report any accident which results in injury or death, or was caused by mechanical failure, to the agency within 48 hours of the incident. Based on current DOT regulations, Twin America, was required by law to report both the June 18 and August 5 accidents. Expanding the reporting requirements to encompass incidents currently excluded will allow the agency to better evaluate an operator’s safety record.

Senator Hoylman said: “It’s alarming that in the past two months there have been at least two incidents on the West Side involving double-decker sightseeing buses owned and operated by Twin America. The company’s spotty safety record raises the question of whether it’s complying with existing safety regulations, which is why I’m calling on the Department of Transportation to investigate. I’m also asking that DOT increase transparency for bus operators by expanding and disseminating accident reports so bus operators can be held accountable by the public.”

You can read the full copy of the letter from Senator Hoylman below.

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