Two days after the horrifying traffic accident in the Meiling Scenic Area involving a bus on an elementary school field trip, the Ministry of Transportation and Communica-tions decided yesterday to finish amending traffic regulations within a month in order to ban tour bus and freeway bus operators from using retreaded tires.
The decision was made at a special meeting held yesterday.
The taskforce dealing with the amendments will be led by Vice Minister Oliver Yu (
Retreaded tires
Yin Cheng-peng (
Prior to the accident, the transportation ministry was about to promulgate regulations allowing buses or other large-size vehicles to install retreaded tires as back wheels.
However, the ministry officials decided to reconsider the regulations in light of the accident.
It was decided at yesterday's meeting to require that both buses and their drivers be registered with local vehicle registration departments.
Buses that have been operated for over five years must be inspected twice a year by the department, the officials decided.
Inspections completed by dealers or at auto shops will be considered invalid.
Tsai has not yet announced which official would be penalized for the accident, although Director General of Highways James Chen (
Tire technicians
Chen visited the Meiling area again yesterday accompanied by tire technicians.
Their findings showed the tires on the bus involved in the accident had not been retreaded.
While the four back tires were manufactured in 2004, the two front tires were produced this year. The tread on all six wheels met the government's requirements, he said.
He said the tour bus was driving into a curve with a 5 percent inclination.
The driver was suspected of driving too fast downhill, leaving a 43.1m long skid track on the road.
Chen said a sign was installed before the curve, asking the drivers to test if their car brakes were working.
Full responsibility
The company needs to take full responsibility for the accident because it recruited a driver who had less than three years of driving experience, which is against the law, Chen said.
Although the finding appeared to eliminate the retreaded tires as the cause leading to the accident, Chen said a policy to ban their use was still necessary.
The ministry is scheduled to hold another meeting on Friday, where officials will have further discussions over the issue.
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