WASHINGTON, D.C. — The yellow school bus driver is again at the forefront of federal efforts to curb driver distractions such as cell phone usage that have been cited as the cause of at least six major crashes in the past decade that resulted in fatalities or serious injuries. Three involved school buses and one involved a charter bus carrying students.

In a speech Tuesday before the International Symposium on Distracted Driving, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker cited a 2004 incident of an Alexandria, Va., charter bus driver talking on a hands-free cell phone and missing traffic signs warning him of an upcoming, low-clearance bridge. The crash prompted NTSB in December of 2006 to call on states to ban cell phone usage while driving. An alternative lane was available to the driver for navigating the 12-foot high vehicle through a 13-foot, 4-inch high clearance rather than through the 10-foot, 2-inch clearance he chose. The bus was traveling at approximately 46 mph when the bus hit the overpass. Ten of the 27 student passengers received minor injuries and once child was seriously injured.

The other school bus investigations NTSB referred to were incidents ocurring in Chapel Hill, Texas, in 1998; Herndon, Ky., in 2000; and Ganada, Ariz., in 2001.

Currently, 18 states prohibit cell phone usage by school bus drivers while operating their vehicle. The restrictions vary in their interpretations, including the use of hands-free devices.

“I’d like to note that (NTSB does not) differentiate between hand-held and hands-free devices,” Rosenker told attendees. “The evidence is that they produce similar performance degradation. We are similarly concerned about text messaging while operating a vehicle. That’s why we use the term wireless communications devices and recommend that states use that more expansive definition when adopting laws restricting use by novice drivers and CDL drivers that carry passengers.”

Rosenker added it is up to drivers to assume the responsibility for allowing themselves to become distracted while operating their vehicles, and the NTSB along with highway transportation stakeholders must “give drivers the tools they need to make the most of that responsibility.”