High-tech prisoner transport buses are being tested in Australia in an effort to improve guard safety. New South Wales’ attorney general recently reported that a fleet of new vans was acquired to help with transporting offenders between the courts and detention facilities.

Perhaps the most important safety feature of these vans is the individual compartments for each passenger. Individual compartments enhance safety because guards can remove only one prisoner at a time. This makes it less likely that a group of offenders will rush one of the guards. That’s a major concern when transporting prisoners, as there are only two guards on board a vehicle at any given time.

In addition to individual compartments, the new vans will also be equipped with a GPS system and video cameras. These cameras could be monitored by workers back at the prison base, thereby making them aware of an emergency situation much sooner. As a result, guards would be able to obtain assistance more promptly than they would have otherwise. The cameras also give officers an extra set of eyes, as those monitoring them could notice activity that might otherwise go undetected.

The live video streaming feature has an added advantage in that it also serves as an intercom system. According to the attorney general, this will help provide better protection for inmates who suffer from severe medical conditions.  He claims that this addition was recommended after an inmate with a serious heart condition passed away while in transit in 2012.

If the initial fleet of vans is found to be more effective, more of them could be ordered for use in New South Wales. It could be some time however, until these vehicles are available in the United States. At Mid America Coach, we have a huge selection of prisoner transport vans that will safely haul large numbers of offenders. Contact us to find out more about the selection we have available.

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Phone: 816.734.5000

October 24, 2012

Mid America Coach of Kansas City, Missouri has entered into an agreement with Adapt Solutions of Saint-Lambert, Quebec to offer Adapt Solutions’ products and services to modify customer’s vehicles for personal mobility needs.

Adapt Solutions serves the mobility industry with innovative solutions for gaining access to vehicles.  Made with simplicity and safety as paramount, Adapt Solutions products make entering and exiting a vehicle easier for physically challenged individuals.

Since 2001, Mid America Coach has provided excellence in the sales and service of small and mid-sized shuttle buses as well as personal wheelchair accessible vans. Participate in all life offers by having the right vehicle to give you the freedom of mobility.

According to Peter Beren, President, “This provides a strategic balance in the products that we offer to our customers.”

For more information on Mid America Coach or Adapt Solutions’ products, click here

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposes a new federal motor vehicle safety standard to require ESC systems on large commercial trucks, motorcoaches and some other large buses — but not school or transit buses. Mike Martin, executive director of the National Association for Pupil Transportation, discusses the issue with SBF.

Not sure that I agree with this. Stability Control works in conjunction with the vehicle’s anti lock braking system. There should be a way to plug this in to the existing computer and the body builder adjusts it for the weight of the completed vehicle. Ahhh, there’s the problem. They don’t want anyone diddling with the computer. Peter Beren, President, Mid America Coach

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In the joint letter, David Strickland, NHTSA administrator, and Anne S. Ferro, FMCSA administrator, state that pre-primary, elementary and secondary schools should not use these vans to transport children because they do not provide the same level of safety as school buses meeting NHTSA’s safety standards. They also remind DMV commissioners that federal law prohibits the sale or lease of a new 12- or 15-passenger van if it will be used to transport students.

Moreover, Strickland and Ferro cite recent fatal crashes in New York state and Georgia involving 15-passenger vans that resulted in the deaths of 10 people and injuries to many other occupants as evidence for the need to improve the safe operation of these vehicles.

The agencies’ safety data indicate that 9-, 12- and 15-passenger vans are often inadequately maintained and the tires are vulnerable to deterioration as they age. The vehicles also display sensitivity to rollovers, particularly when they are fully loaded.

NHTSA and the FMCSA have undertaken an outreach strategy to van owners to improve the safety of the vehicles, and Strickland and Ferro ask the nation’s DMV commissioners for assistance.

They request that the commissioners send a NHTSA consumer advisory to every registered owner of a 9- 12- and 15-passenger van in their states, along with a letter that explains what owners of these vans should do to improve their safety and stability.

To read Strickland’s and Ferro’s other requests to DMV commissioners, click here.

The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) supports federal law and NHTSA’s regulations that prohibit the sale or lease of new 12- or 15-passenger vans if they will be used to transport students, and also concurs with the statement in today’s letter that pre-primary, elementary, and secondary schools should not use these vans for transporting students.

NASDPTS distributed Strickland’s and Ferro’s letter to the nation’s state directors of pupil transportation and encouraged them to forward it to others who may be involved in decisions about vehicles used for student transportation.

Originally posted at www.schoolbusfleet.com

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In addition to the fact that the decision implies the average American has, in the less-than-delicate observations of some writers, “gotten fatter,” the current regulations were determined in 1960, half a century ago. Far be it for me to say but, yeah, seems like it would be time for an update.

Read the whole article here – www.metro-magazine.com/

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