The Taichung City Government is to tighten its reviews of bus companies and introduce stricter inspections of bus drivers, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (???) said on Thursday in the wake of a deadly accident that killed a Taiwanese woman and her 1-year-old son in the city.
The municipal government on Wednesday issued a letter to bus companies in the city demanding that they take action to ensure bus drivers adhere to road safety protocols, while prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident, Lu told reporters at a charity event in Taichung.
Late Tuesday evening, an Iraqi national identified by the Chinese surname Chi (?) was injured and his 30-year-old wife, surnamed Lee (?), and 1-year-old son killed when a bus made a left turn, hitting the family as it crossed the road.
The municipal government has demanded that all bus companies provide drivers with refresher training on road safety before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday on Jan. 20, 2023, Lu said.
It will also tighten reviews of bus companies and more strictly enforce the rule that requires drivers to slow down at turns and check whether there are any pedestrians crossing the road, she said.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Taichung City Transportation Bureau said the requirement that drivers decelerate at intersections to check for pedestrians is to be made a criterion in reviews of bus companies starting in 2023.
That rule, along with others relating to driver behavior, will in the future be assigned increased weighting in reviews, based on which the city government decides the amount of subsidies it gives to bus companies, it said.
Although all buses operating in the city have driver vision enhancers onboard, to further improve road safety, the bureau is considering making it mandatory for companies to install advanced driver-assistance systems on all of their vehicles over the next three years, it said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel