Feds Issue 'Imminent Hazard' Order For Fung Wah Bus Line, Order Immediate Shutdown
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The popular Chinatown bus company Fung Wah has been ordered shut by federal transportation officials.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration determined the discount bus line was an imminent hazard to public safety and ordered it to cease all passenger operations effective immediately.
The move comes a few weeks after federal regulators revoked Fung Wah's operating license.
WEB EXTRA: Read FMSCA's Imminent Hazard Out-Of-Service Order (pdf)
Following a month-long investigation, the FMCSA found evidence of significant safety problems and dangerous conditions on Fung Wah's buses. According to the agency, the bus company failed to inspect, repair and maintain its vehicles and falsified inspection records. Fung Wah also failed to ensure its drivers were qualified and failed to meet drug and alcohol testing requirements, according to federal investigators.
Feds Issue 'Imminent Hazard' Order For Fung Wah Bus Line
These violations left Fung Wah drivers, passengers and other motorists in danger of serious injury or death, according to the investigation's findings.
Fung Wah's entire fleet was taken off the road in late February after Massachusetts inspectors found various problems, including cracked bus frames. Its operating license was pulled shortly after, when the company allegedly stopped cooperating with federal safety inspectors.
Fung Wah operated between New York and Boston and charged passengers $15 for a one-way trip.
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