The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) should establish a system to track bus and bus driver safety records as soon as possible to ensure the well-being of passengers, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
“Enacting such a system has become urgent after five tragic accidents involving large passenger buses in the past few weeks,” foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said.
Initial investigations into the accidents, which left a total of 12 people dead and 36 injured, showed that two were related to driver fatigue and two others were related to driver health, while the fifth was the result of mechanical failure.
With these mishaps still fresh in people’s minds, Hsieh said the ministry could no longer sit idly by and needed to create a tracking system that would not only include vehicle maintenance records but also bus drivers’ health and working conditions.
Hsieh condemned the ministry’s failure to take action after four of 17 tour buses inspected by the Consumer Protection Commission in April failed to meet standards.
“The 24 percent failure rate was alarmingly high,” Hsieh said, adding that the ministry should have taken a cue from such a figure.
Huang Yu-sheng (黃鈺生), one of the foundation’s policy advisers, said the ministry should make car rental information more transparent.
For instance, he said, rental operators should be required to provide the vehicle’s roll-off date, maintenance records and accident history, and a list of its drivers and travel records from the previous two days.
“All relevant information should be included in car rental contracts,” he said.
Huang said every bus should be inspected, not just randomly selected vehicles.
Bus operators are only required to have a representative vehicle inspected, along with a document stating that all other vehicles of the same model are of the same quality.
“The recent spate of accidents involving large buses has proved that this kind of quality control system has gaping holes that should be plugged,” Huang said, urging provisional inspection stations be set up at major tourist spots to facilitate roadside checks.
Wu Chia-cheng (吳家誠), the foundation’s secretary-general, said the government should legislate bus drivers’ working hours to limit the number of hours.
He suggested that consumers check the Directorate-General of Highways’ Web site (www.thb.gov.tw) for information about the conditions of tour buses before renting a bus.
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