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Michigan tour bus company shut down after 6 people travel in luggage compartment
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:13 AM on 13th June 2011
A Michigan tour bus company has been ordered to cease operations after six people were found in the luggage compartment of a travelling coach – complete with mattresses and pillows.
The driver told police there wasn’t enough room in the passenger compartment for a 235 mile journey to northern Ohio.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s shutdown order for Haines Tours of Gladwin called the company’s operations an ‘imminent hazard’.
Dangerous: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s shutdown order for Haines Tours of Gladwin called the company’s operations an ‘imminent hazard’
According to the order, an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer found six of 62 passengers in the luggage area during an inspection of the bus, en route from Roscommon, Michigan to Clyde, Ohio on May 27.
The order, which named Haines Tours and Roger Haines, read: ‘Based upon your present state of unacceptable safety compliance regarding the unauthorized transportation of passengers in the cargo area of your motorcoaches, your motor carrier operations substantially increase the likelihood of serious injury or death if not discontinued immediately.’
Long journey: The driver told police there wasn’t enough room in the passenger compartment for a 235 mile trek to northern Ohio
It is not the first time the company has been caught using the luggage compartment for unauthorised purposes.
In August 2010, Haines Tours was
cited for using the luggage carrier as a sleeper berth for drivers.
The order continued: ‘Despite being warned in August, 2010 that it cannot transport people in the luggage compartment of its buses in violation of federal regulations, it continues to place people in the luggage compartment.’
Officials said the company would be permitted to resume operations after outlining the cause of its
non-compliance and how it plans to comply with safety regulations in the future.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a statement: ‘People’s lives were needlessly placed at risk.
‘Safety is everyone’s responsibility and it begins with practising common sense. That means not putting human beings in cargo holds.’
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The driver was a decent guy who put his entire company at risk in his caring nature for his passengers , if only there were more like him .
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So how did the mattresses get there ?
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