School buses should all have alcohol tests to avoid drunken driving, NTSB recommends

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that all new school buses be equipped with alcohol detection systems to prevent drunken driving. The recommendation comes after a 2022 West Virginia crash where a drunk school bus driver lost control, injuring 19 children. The NTSB found that school bus drivers driving impaired is not an isolated problem. In 2020, Stateline.org reported that at least 118 school bus drivers were ticketed or arrested for driving under the influence over five years. The NTSB's recommendation focuses on alcohol detection because there are established tests and legal standards for alcohol impairment. The cost of adding detection systems is estimated to be between $75 to $150 for installation and $100 monthly for monitoring, similar to ignition interlock devices used for DUI offenders. The NTSB has long been concerned about drunken driving, which is a factor in one-third of the roughly 37,000 traffic deaths annually. Federal regulators or states could require the technology, but Congress would need to pass legislation for widespread adoption.