Road safety crackdown after fatal crashes
Source: Xinhua |
February 4, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Road inspections are to be tightened in a bid to crackdown on speeding and drunk-driving and ensure a safe journey for the millions of Chinese heading home for the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.
The order comes after fatal road accidents in north China's Gansu and southwest China's Guizhou provinces killed at least 30 people.
Police said recent accidents were all related to illicit acts including speeding, overloading, driving while fatigued and drunk driving.
The ministry urged local authorities to prevent similar deadly accidents and ensure road safety for travelers by reinforcing traffic management and checks, and rewarding passengers for reporting illegal acts.
Transport police will promptly respond to public reports and calls for help by phone, in text messages and on microblogs, the ministry said.
Overloading and poor driving have been confirmed as behind the fatal bus crash last Friday in Gansu, government sources said.
Investigators found that the bus had left no brake marks at the crash site, a downhill sharp turn on a mountainous road in Ningxian County of Qingyang City, according to the county government.
The vehicle caught fire after falling into a ravine at around 10pm near the county seat of Ningxian.
By late yesterday, 18 people had been confirmed dead and 32 others were receiving medical treatment.
"The bus driver seemed to be oblivious to the road conditions as he hadn't even turned his wheel on the stretch, which has consecutive downhill sharp turns," said a traffic policeman.
The bus had a capacity of 47 people, but 54 were on board when it left Langfang City in north China's Hebei Province, according to the provincial emergency response office.
The investigation revealed that the vehicle had traveled across four provinces in northwest China to take migrant workers on a 1,000-kilometer journey back home for the Spring Festival, which starts on Saturday.
The bus was never stopped by safety authorities and, when it finally crashed, it was just 2 kilometers from its destination.
There is only one licensed passenger bus operating between the two cities and unlicensed vehicles for long-distance transport have become popular with migrant workers.
"It is an annual headache for the family reunion trip. We can hardly ever buy train and passenger bus tickets, and we have to rent a bus with collected money," said Yang Wenwen, who was injured in the bus crash.
The operator of the bus offered poker chips to act as tickets. And the rented vehicle did not set out from a station but from a location chosen by its driver, according to Yang.
"The bus did not receive any safety inspections on the long trip, during which it had run on some expressway sections," he added.
On Saturday, in Guizhou Province, an overloaded coach overturned and rolled down a 100-meter slope, killing 12 people.
January 26 marked the beginning of the world's largest human migration, which takes place annually before the Lunar New Year.
A record 3.41 billion trips are expected to be made over this year's travel rush period from January 26 to March 6.
The order comes after fatal road accidents in north China's Gansu and southwest China's Guizhou provinces killed at least 30 people.
Police said recent accidents were all related to illicit acts including speeding, overloading, driving while fatigued and drunk driving.
The ministry urged local authorities to prevent similar deadly accidents and ensure road safety for travelers by reinforcing traffic management and checks, and rewarding passengers for reporting illegal acts.
Transport police will promptly respond to public reports and calls for help by phone, in text messages and on microblogs, the ministry said.
Overloading and poor driving have been confirmed as behind the fatal bus crash last Friday in Gansu, government sources said.
Investigators found that the bus had left no brake marks at the crash site, a downhill sharp turn on a mountainous road in Ningxian County of Qingyang City, according to the county government.
The vehicle caught fire after falling into a ravine at around 10pm near the county seat of Ningxian.
By late yesterday, 18 people had been confirmed dead and 32 others were receiving medical treatment.
"The bus driver seemed to be oblivious to the road conditions as he hadn't even turned his wheel on the stretch, which has consecutive downhill sharp turns," said a traffic policeman.
The bus had a capacity of 47 people, but 54 were on board when it left Langfang City in north China's Hebei Province, according to the provincial emergency response office.
The investigation revealed that the vehicle had traveled across four provinces in northwest China to take migrant workers on a 1,000-kilometer journey back home for the Spring Festival, which starts on Saturday.
The bus was never stopped by safety authorities and, when it finally crashed, it was just 2 kilometers from its destination.
There is only one licensed passenger bus operating between the two cities and unlicensed vehicles for long-distance transport have become popular with migrant workers.
"It is an annual headache for the family reunion trip. We can hardly ever buy train and passenger bus tickets, and we have to rent a bus with collected money," said Yang Wenwen, who was injured in the bus crash.
The operator of the bus offered poker chips to act as tickets. And the rented vehicle did not set out from a station but from a location chosen by its driver, according to Yang.
"The bus did not receive any safety inspections on the long trip, during which it had run on some expressway sections," he added.
On Saturday, in Guizhou Province, an overloaded coach overturned and rolled down a 100-meter slope, killing 12 people.
January 26 marked the beginning of the world's largest human migration, which takes place annually before the Lunar New Year.
A record 3.41 billion trips are expected to be made over this year's travel rush period from January 26 to March 6.
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