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A Massachusetts teen was convicted Wednesday on charges of vehicular homicide, texting while driving and negligent operation of a motor vehicle as a result of texting while driving.  He was the first driver to be charged and convicted of motor vehicle homicide by texting under Massachusetts law.  The accident occurred when his vehicle crossed over a center line and fatally injured the driver of the oncoming vehicle and seriously injured a passenger in that vehicle. He was sentenced to two and a half years on the vehicular homicide charge and two years on the texting and causing injury charge. He will serve one year concurrently on both charges and the balance of both charges is suspended for five years. His license will be suspended for 15 years. Prosecutors say he sent 193 text messages the day of the crash, including some just a minute or so before impact and dozens more after it.

This past Thursday the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") shut down 26 discount bus companies declaring them imminent hazards to public safety. The shutdowns affected dozens of routes out of New York City’s Chinatown.  In addition, FMCSA ordered 10 individual bus company owners, managers and employees to cease all passenger transportation operations, which includes selling bus tickets to passengers.  The carriers had multiple safety violations, including using drivers without valid commercial driver's licenses (CDLs), failing to have alcohol and drug testing programs, and operating vehicles that had not been regularly inspected and repaired. Drivers also had serious hours-of-service and driver qualification violations.  Earlier this year, FMCSA released the SaferBus mobile app to give travelers a quick way to view a bus company's safety record before buying an interstate ticket or booking group travel.