The night before Tai Wai (18th) a double-decker bus overturned accident, leading to a tragedy of 1 dead and 11 injured.
The KMB staff rights union today (20th) criticized that various policies of KMB have the opportunity to affect passenger safety, including the fact that the captain is responsible for driving multiple different bus lines, insufficient lunch time, and "chasing up" and rest after shifting from night to early. Lack of time and so on.
The trade union criticized that the current KMB work guidelines did not take public safety into consideration.
The Transport Department has also refused to meet with the trade union in the past four years. It is hoped that the Commissioner of Transport, Lo Shu-pei, can fulfill his promise to meet with the trade union as soon as possible.
There was a serious traffic accident on Tsing Sha Highway in Tai Wai the night before. The 88K bus was suspected of hitting a rock boulder due to a sudden twist on the wrong road, resulting in a tragedy of 1 death and 11 repairs.
The KMB Staff Rights Union held a press conference today to criticize KMB's various policies for neglecting public safety.
KMB’s staff rights union vice chairman Chen Wing-ho said that KMB publicly stated to the media after the 978 traffic accident in 2018 that the captain must not drive more than three lanes a day, but the union has received complaints that some captains had been arranged within one day. On duty on four different bus lines, apparently after the accident, the KMB claimed that the compilation has been consistent with or even better than the Transport Department’s guidelines, and questioned the KMB’s "talking to the outside and making the same for the inside", and also questioned the Transport Department Inadequate supervision of the KMB.
The union believes that drivers need to drive multiple different bus lines in a day, which is one of the causes of accidents.
Chen Wing-hao explained that in addition to the listed route, the driver needs to take into account the unfamiliar additional routes, which will increase the risk of mistakes. For example, when driving on the wrong road, they will become dangerous because they are unfamiliar with the road conditions.
The trade union continued that this accident and some serious bus accidents in the past took place after the bus captain's meal.
The union believes that the driver’s lack of meal time has caused the captain to continue to work immediately after the meal, and the driver may become overwhelmed with food and lose concentration.
The union suggested that the Transport Department should revise the work guidelines for bus captains to expressly stipulate that “captains must not drive more than two lines per day”, that is, one listed line and one additional line to reduce the burden on the captain. It also suggests increasing meal breaks. Up to 1 hour and 30 minutes, so that the captain has enough time for meals and a certain rest period.
The union also suggested that when the bus captain drives the night-shift bus, he should have two days off before driving the early-shift bus to reduce the burden on the captain, reduce the chance of error by the captain, and protect the safety of passengers.
The KMB Staff Rights Union was established in 2017. After its founding, it has repeatedly requested to meet with the Transport Department, but was rejected by various reasons.
The Commissioner for Transport said yesterday that she would be happy to meet with the KMB trade union.
The trade union hopes that the department can fulfill its promise and hold a meeting as soon as possible.
Sha Tin District Councillors Zhou Xiaolan and Xian Zhuolan also requested the Sha Tin District Council to convene a special meeting as soon as possible to hold the KMB and Transport Department accountable for the accident.
Tai Wai KMB overturned accident. The Transport Department has developed legislation to require bus passengers to wear seat belts. The bus went home, unfortunately, his mother died.
Tai Wai Flip KMB│88K KMB suspected of taking the wrong road, shoveling rocks and turning over, causing 1 death and 11 injuries. Rounding up the KMB│The arrested bus captain took office for 18 years. KMB said that he had driven 88K route non-temporarily. The bus driver of the rescue taxi: the head of the deceased was crushed by the bus
