Premier Sean Chen expressed sadness and regret at today's Cabinet meeting about the tour bus accidents of December 9 and 10, in which 13 people lost their lives and 25 more were injured. On behalf of the government, he extended condolences to the families of the departed, wished the wounded a swift recovery, and emphasized that improving tourism safety is a duty of the Executive Yuan.
With respect to the rescue and relief effort, Chen praised the performances of the rescue workers who rushed to the scenes to help send injured passengers to nearby hospitals, where he hoped they would receive proper treatment.
The premier approved the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' (MOTC) quick investigation of the causes of the accidents, which included recalling some vehicles for urgent inspection, as well as its order that local governments conduct comprehensive inspections of their remote mountain roads, and also credited it with enhancing the drivers' emergency response capabilities. Nonetheless, the ministry still has work to do, he said.
Chen noted the MOTC has in recent years made several adjustments to reduce tour bus accident rates, including:
- Tightening the distribution of bus drivers' licenses
- Strengthening periodic drivers' examinations
- Improving drivers' training
- Capping drivers' working hours
- Mandating that buses' body structures be safer
- Forbidding tour buses from using renovated tires
- Increasing inspections of old buses
- Establishing disaster warning bulletins
- Publicly announcing which road sections are closed to large buses and on which roads drivers must use special caution while traveling
The ministry must continue advancing such measures to prevent future accidents, and it should collect and arrange accident data and statistics and explain them to the public in a timely fashion, he said.
The rising number of foreign tourists in Taiwan has led to more frequent deployment of tour buses, so relative accident rates should be taken into account as well as absolute figures; that said, the Executive Yuan has been stressing that tourism quality must be improved since the annual inbound visitor total exceeded 6 million in 2011, Chen indicated.