Month: August 2014

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NHTSA proposes new bus rollover standards

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Bus Rollover

New rules could be coming for America’s coaches and large buses, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed standards that have been influenced by those of the European Union.

The new standards would demand that large buses undergo tests that would see the vehicles tipped off of a platform and onto a hard surface, with a particular focus on the way an impact affected its structure. According to NHTSA, the new standards would also force manufacturers to batten down the emergency doors so they’d stay shut during a rollover, and reinforce the attachments for the seats and overhead storage racks, again, so they’d stay in place.

To be fair, these all sound like fairly reasonable changes in the name of safety. They are, however, not going to be terribly cheap. NHTSA is expecting costs to manufacturers to rise between $5 and $13 million each year, with each new bus requiring an extra $282 to $507 for the changes. Other tradeoffs, including some weight gains and fuel efficiency penalties, also seem worth the benefit of two lives saved per year and four serious injuries prevented.

The blow should be softened for current coach operators, though, as only newly built buses will need to conform to the rollover standard at present. That could change, although according to The Detroit News, NHTSA said it "believes that major structural changes to the vehicle’s entire sidewall and roof structure would be needed for some existing buses to meet the rollover structural integrity requirements." It scarcely needs mentioning, but NHTSA thinks that’s an overly expensive proposition.

Still, NHTSA is looking at the "feasibility, benefits, and costs of any potential requirement to retrofit existing buses with stronger emergency exit mechanisms and enhanced structural integrity to increase side window glazing retention to afford a similar level of anti-ejection protection for passengers riding in existing buses." Future regulations may include the requirement of stability control.

Municipalities, meanwhile, need not fret, as school buses and public transit buses won’t be required to make the changes. Nor are airport shuttle or prison buses included, as these regulations are meant for the kinds of buses that schlep people from city to city on regular routes and tourists to popular destinations.

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NHTSA proposes new bus rollover standards originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 03 Aug 2014 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop Now Fingerprinting People Trading in Games in Philadelphia to Help Fight Crime

Some GameStop stores in Philadelphia are now requiring that people who trade in games provide a fingerprint scan for "certain transactions," CBS Philadelphia reports today based on conversations with the retailer, local government, police, and shoppers.

According to GameStop, it is following a local law that says the retailer is allowed to collect thumbprints. These scans eventually make their way into a database that helps law enforcement nab thieves who seek to use GameStop as a pawn shop of sorts to unload their goods.

Philadelphia city solicitor Shelley Smith says that GameStop is not required to collect the thumbprints to abide by the city’s pawnbroker order. "What GameStop does doesn’t meet any of the elements of the definition in the code, so the pawnbreaker ordinance doesn’t apply to GameStop," she said.

The Philadelphia Police Department, on the other hand, tells CBS Philadelphia that GameStop is being proactive by obtaining customer fingerprints and uploading them to a database known as LeadsOnline.

Still, GameStop shoppers outside of a store in Philadelphia’s Center City district are not too pleased about the new policy. "I really don’t appreciate it," one person said. "You fingerprinted me like I’m in a police district. No, I’m at a game store." Another shopper said, "I think it’s an overreach. It’s going too far."

GameStop’s fingerprinting initiative is currently only underway in Philadelphia itself, but not the suburbs. We have reached out to GameStop for further clarification about this new policy for Philadelphia and will update this story with anything we hear back.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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