The National Joint Association of Tourist Buses yesterday urged the government to list electrical appliances allowed on tour buses based on the electrical load of the bus, following a bus fire on Tuesday last week that killed all 26 people aboard.
The bus reportedly had so many additional appliances that a fire was ignited at the front of the bus, which meant that passengers had to try and escape at the back.
The association made the appeal after an inspection by the Directorate-General of Highways found that 60 percent of tour buses of the same model as the one destroyed in the deadly incident failed an inspection.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Buses that did not pass the inspection mostly had additional electrics that were wired to a fuse in the chassis that did not the match the specifications of the manufacturer, or storage batteries with power cords connected to unknown electronic devices.
The highway authority also published a list of 14 tour bus operators that scored high in terms of their buses and drivers, as well as the their management in the past two evaluations, out of a total of 406 tour buses.
These operators were chosen for managing their companies using technology and not having any accidents since last year, the directorate said.
Association chairman Alex Lu (魯孝亞) said that the directorate should explain the results of its inspection.
“Bus operators need to have fog lights and floor lights because tour buses often need to drive on roads in the mountains. The nation’s vehicle body manufacturers often cater to the needs of bus drivers by installing devices on the buses they built, even though they are electrical appliances that were not considered by the original manufacturer,” Lu said, adding that the bus companies cannot modify the electrical design of the buses.
Lu said that a majority of tour bus chassis are imported, and the body and interior are built by Taiwanese manufacturers.
He said that is because the tariff on importing whole vehicles is 25 percent, much higher than that for imported chassis.
However, imported buses might not meet the directorate’s safety specifications either, he said.
Lu defended the installation of electrical appliances on buses, such as karaoke machines.
He said that manufacturers have come to consider karaoke machines standard equipment on buses, as tourists prefer tour buses with karaoke machines which has increased the demand for the equipment to be installed as standard.
Lu said that tour bus companies were unaware that such additional devices could overload a bus’ electrical load and that there are no laws banning such equipment.
“Having a karaoke machine, fog light or a water fountain on the bus should not be considered an ‘original sin,’” Lu said. “This bus fire has exposed how loose government regulations are regarding the use of electrical appliances on board. The key point is that the government needs to let bus operators know the electrical load of buses and the types of appliances that are allowed on board.”
Lu said that if a bus requires 70 percent of the battery capacity to power the vehicle, only 30 percent should be used for additional electrical appliances.
He said that the locations of emergency exits or windows are different on each bus, adding that the directorate needs to stipulate the number of safety mechanisms that should be available.
The location of emergency exits or windows on each bus should be identical, he said.
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