INVESTIGATORS LOOK AT DRIVER FATIGUE AS CRASH FACTOR|司機過勞肇禍? 檢解剖遺體釐清健康狀況

Regarding the coach crash that killed 33 people, it is suspected that prolonged working hours led to the driver's fatigue, which was a factor in the crash. On the afternoon of Feb. 14th, prosecutors went to Taipei's Second Funeral Parlor to conduct an autopsy. The driver's daughter said her father had been driving for 16 consecutive days and accused the travel agency of lying about how much rest time he had been given A coach hired by the Iris Travel Service Co.'s bus overturned on its way back from a cherry blossom tour to Wuling Farm, leaving 33 dead. Driver fatigue is suspected to be the cause of the accident. Prosecutors conducted an autopsy of the driver, surnamed Kang. The driver's daughter was distraught and said her father had worked for 16 days in a row. She said the travel agency lied about giving her father enough rest. ==KANG I-CHEN driver's daughter== I saw him come home at 10 or 11 pm. He got back to sleep and went to work the next day. This situation keeps going on and on. How can I possibly not know whether he gets a rest or not. (They blame my father.) Yes, the deceased can't talk. CCTV footage on the morning of Feb. 13 showed that Mr. Kang prepared to go back to work shortly after he got home. Ms. Kang said that the cause of her father's death, was overwork for the Iris Travel Service Co. Analysts said that both domestic and Chinese tour groups have issues with under-cutting prices. To cut costs, coach service operators extend drivers' working hours and force them to accept unreasonable working conditions to make more money, which leads to long-term fatigue. ==LIN HSIANG-SHENG Prof., Chung Hua University. Dept. Transport. Tech.== Every driver should have his own card, like clocking in. Once the driver meets the limit working hours, he should be replaced with another driver. According to current regulations, the "driving for not exceeding 10 hours a day" regulation refers to the time behind the wheel, regardless of the mileage. In response, the MOTC says it will engage in a thorough review of the regulations. ==CHI WEN-JONG MOTC Administrative Deputy Minister== If he gets a rest for more than an hour, then he is not regarded as being on call by the labor inspection agency, which means the rest hours are not included in the working hours. In Mr. Kang's example, as long as he gets 4-hour rest without being at the wheel, then even a 14-hour work day will still be regarded as meeting regulations. However, whether the rest is sufficient is disputable. Facing constant bus accidents, analysts think the government has to be determined in preventing similar tragedies from happening again. TRANSLATED BY：BRYANT CHANG 到底是不是工時過長，造成康姓司機過勞，釀成這起嚴重傷亡。檢方下午也到第二殯儀館，解剖康姓司機的遺體，要了解康姓司機當時的健康狀況。康姓司機的女兒則控訴，她的父親為了家計已經連上16天班，對於旅行社說有給父親休息，痛批旅行社說謊。 蝶戀花旅行社武陵賞櫻團遊覽車翻覆意外，造成33死。外界懷疑康姓司機疲勞駕駛，檢警到下午第二殯儀館，解剖遺體，要了解康姓司機當時的健康狀況。康姓司機的大女兒泣不成聲，也控訴父親為了家計連上16天班，對於旅行社說有給父親休息，痛批旅行社說謊。 ==康姓司機女兒 康宜甄== 在家就是看到他10、11點 然後回來睡覺 然後就是隔天再出去上班 這樣日夜循環 我怎麼可能 不知道他哪天有休息 哪天沒休息 （那現在好像他們都把責任) （推給爸爸身上) 對啊 死者又不會講話 13號早上的監視器留下康姓司機最後身影，才剛回到家，就匆匆的準備再去上班。康宜甄還哽咽的說，父親到"蝶戀花"工作幾乎5、6點就要出門，凌晨才回家，明顯就是工時過長讓她沒有了爸爸。 學者認為，無論是國旅還是陸客團，都充斥低價團的問題。一旦削價競爭，業者免不了延長司機工時，司機也可能因為想多賺點錢，迫使接受不合理的工作條件，成為常態性的過勞。 ==中華運輸管理系教授 李祥生== 每個駕駛員 要有一張自己的一個 類似一個工作卡 就是一個刷卡上班的概念 一旦這張卡片這個駕駛員 他的工作時數達到 一定程度的時候 我們就必須強制性的要求他 必須換另外一個駕駛員 根據規定，目前公路駕駛每日駕車不得超過十小時，是指手握方向盤時間，因此沒在管行程長短，對此交通部也表示，將通盤檢討。 ==交通部次長 祁文中== 他如果有休息的時間 而超過大概一個小時以上 那樣一個時間在勞檢 在勞檢單位就不算是一個 工作待命的時間 也就是說不算在工時裡面 換句話說，像這次司機出車14小時，中間若有超過4小時，手沒握方向盤，就算休息就符合規定。但這樣是否算有充分休息，也倍受爭議，面對遊覽車意外層出不窮，學者認為政府應該痛定思痛，才能避免悲劇一再發生。 綜合報導