China in safety crackdown after sleeper bus tragedy
Source: Xinhua |
August 29, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has ordered sweeping inspections into the safety of long-distance buses after a horror crash at the weekend which claimed 36 lives.
Local transport authorities must immediately launch a comprehensive examination of all long-distance buses and routes to eliminate potential safety hazards, the transport ministry said.
Buses that fail safety checks will be banned from the road, it said. Effective measures must also be taken to ensure bus drivers have enough rest.
Chinese transportation and safety authorities have ordered an investigation into the accident early on Sunday when a double-decker sleeper bus burst into flames after rear-ending a methanol tanker in the city of Yan'an in Shaanxi Province, killing 36 of the 39 people onboard. The other three passengers managed to escape the inferno.
The accident exposed weak links in highway transportation safety management, the State Council's work safety committee said after an emergency meeting yesterday.
Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said the investigation team is determined to identify the cause of the accident and has promised to make public the results of the investigation.
Huang Ming, vice minister of public security, also ordered stricter supervision over illegal transport activities.
Drivers who drive 50 percent over the speed limit will have their licenses removed, while bus drivers who exceed the speed limit by 20 percent will be fired after receiving punishment, Huang added.
The Shaanxi accident sparked Internet comments. Some highlighted the frequency of accidents involving sleeper buses, as accidents involving these vehicles often result in large numbers of casualties.
The accident was the worst in China since July 2011, when a fire on an overloaded sleeper bus killed 41 passengers and injured six others on an expressway in central China's Henan Province.
"The design of the double-decker sleeper bus is absurd, as only the driver can open the door and the side windows are usually locked," wrote microblogger Xingqing-Sunny on Weibo.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security suspended the production and sale of sleeper buses in March. However, existing buses are likely to remain in service for another five to eight years.
Some Internet users said traffic authorities needed to learn lessons from countries where bus accidents were relatively rare.
"In Germany, drivers take a 15-minute rest every two hours and are required to have 11 hours of sleep at night," Candy Qianzhihe posted.
Others called for stricter government supervision. "Passenger safety is ensured not only by things we can see, such as vehicle parts and airbags, but also the invisible guarantee provided by traffic rules and government supervision," said Zhang Tong, a professor at Tongji University.
The sleeper bus accident was just one of six over the weekend which claimed 71 lives.
Also in Shaanxi, five people were killed when a farm vehicle overturned in Longxian County on Sunday and nine people died after a speeding truck-tractor ran into a van on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway on Monday morning.
In Sichuan Province, a van carrying 12 people crashed into a heavy-duty truck on Sunday afternoon on an expressway, with 10 of the van's passengers killed at the scene and the other two dying in hospital.
Early on Monday morning, three vehicles collided on a national highway in suburban Beijing, leaving four people dead and 11 others injured.
Later that day in the northwestern Gansu Province, five people died when a van collided with a truck. Nine people were injured.
Local transport authorities must immediately launch a comprehensive examination of all long-distance buses and routes to eliminate potential safety hazards, the transport ministry said.
Buses that fail safety checks will be banned from the road, it said. Effective measures must also be taken to ensure bus drivers have enough rest.
Chinese transportation and safety authorities have ordered an investigation into the accident early on Sunday when a double-decker sleeper bus burst into flames after rear-ending a methanol tanker in the city of Yan'an in Shaanxi Province, killing 36 of the 39 people onboard. The other three passengers managed to escape the inferno.
The accident exposed weak links in highway transportation safety management, the State Council's work safety committee said after an emergency meeting yesterday.
Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said the investigation team is determined to identify the cause of the accident and has promised to make public the results of the investigation.
Huang Ming, vice minister of public security, also ordered stricter supervision over illegal transport activities.
Drivers who drive 50 percent over the speed limit will have their licenses removed, while bus drivers who exceed the speed limit by 20 percent will be fired after receiving punishment, Huang added.
The Shaanxi accident sparked Internet comments. Some highlighted the frequency of accidents involving sleeper buses, as accidents involving these vehicles often result in large numbers of casualties.
The accident was the worst in China since July 2011, when a fire on an overloaded sleeper bus killed 41 passengers and injured six others on an expressway in central China's Henan Province.
"The design of the double-decker sleeper bus is absurd, as only the driver can open the door and the side windows are usually locked," wrote microblogger Xingqing-Sunny on Weibo.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security suspended the production and sale of sleeper buses in March. However, existing buses are likely to remain in service for another five to eight years.
Some Internet users said traffic authorities needed to learn lessons from countries where bus accidents were relatively rare.
"In Germany, drivers take a 15-minute rest every two hours and are required to have 11 hours of sleep at night," Candy Qianzhihe posted.
Others called for stricter government supervision. "Passenger safety is ensured not only by things we can see, such as vehicle parts and airbags, but also the invisible guarantee provided by traffic rules and government supervision," said Zhang Tong, a professor at Tongji University.
The sleeper bus accident was just one of six over the weekend which claimed 71 lives.
Also in Shaanxi, five people were killed when a farm vehicle overturned in Longxian County on Sunday and nine people died after a speeding truck-tractor ran into a van on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway on Monday morning.
In Sichuan Province, a van carrying 12 people crashed into a heavy-duty truck on Sunday afternoon on an expressway, with 10 of the van's passengers killed at the scene and the other two dying in hospital.
Early on Monday morning, three vehicles collided on a national highway in suburban Beijing, leaving four people dead and 11 others injured.
Later that day in the northwestern Gansu Province, five people died when a van collided with a truck. Nine people were injured.
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