TWO TOUR COMPANIES FINED IN TIGHTENING COACH SAFETY CHECKS|遊覽車強制繫安全帶 交通部下月討論

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications held another media briefing on compensation and improvements following the freeway coach crash which claimed 33 lives. Twenty-six of the victims' families have been fully compensated. Of 11 who were hospitalised, five have been discharged. Regarding coach safety, in April the revised rules for the regulation of passenger transport will be reviewed. Whether seat belts will be mandatory in all coach seats will be discussed. Over the 228 holiday, the MOTC strengthened road inspection of passenger transport vehicles and found many violations of current regulations. Following the freeway coach crash, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications strengthened road inspections of passenger transport vehicles over the 228 holiday. 1,337 inspections were carried out and there were 79 violations. There were two tour groups making one-day trips over 400 kilometers, one of which was from Taipei to Shanlinxi, a trip of 520 kilometers. It has been fined NT$10,000. CGOUT]] In April the MOTC will review revised rules for regulation of passenger transport and require coaches to install GPS. Whether seat belts will be compulsory in all coach seats remains to be discussed. ==LIN HSU-KUO Dir., MOTC Dept. Railways and Highways== Currently, it is compulsory for large passenger vehicles to use seat belts when sitting in the front seat and behind the driver's seat. In the future, we may take it a step further and make it compulsory for all. We are collecting information on international practise to consider whether to amend this regulation. To strengthen the management of safety issues for passenger transport vehicles the MOTC called in 166 coaches which had the same design as the one involved in the crash. Eleven were substandard. Before te end of March, 5,175 other coaches will be called for inspection. By April 14, the inspection of coaches and the industry will be completed. However, a legislator revealed that some companies designated by the Directorate General of Highways as excellent companies, in fact, had obvious violations of regulations. For example, they had not established professional safety management units and did not provide regular statistics reports on emergency safety management. Even the Ministry of Labor admitted that they did not meet work health and safety standards. ==YEH CHIN-TANG Dir., MOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration== There was no thought of joining up on information, the communication between the two was remarked on by committee members with surprise, how were these companies designated as excellent when occupational safety and health and safety management were not taken into consideration. The Ministry of labor said that if the companies did not improve within a specified period they would be charged with violating labor health and safety regulations and fined. Depending on the violations, fines may be from NT$30,000 to 50,000. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 交通部針對蝶戀花遊覽車事故，昨天再度召開善後理賠及改善記者會，33名罹難者已完成理賠26名，19名完成治喪；11名住院傷者有5人已經出院。在遊覽車安全管理方面，4月份將檢討修正汽車運輸業管理規則，到時大客車是否全車繫安全帶也將一併討論,至於交通部在228連假有加強路檢稽查，仍發現不少違規案件。 蝶戀花旅行社遊覽車翻車意外，交通部擴大稽查遊覽車安檢，228聯合路檢結果發現，1337輛遊覽車中查獲79件違規，觀光團有兩團一日遊行程超過哩程上限400公里，其中一團台北到杉林溪高達520公里，已經開罰一萬。交通部在4月也將修正汽車運輸業管理規則，要求遊覽車全面裝設GPS，針對大客車是否強制繫安全帶，也將一併討論。 == 目前大客車強制要繫安全帶 就是駕駛和前座的乘客這個部分 未來是不是要進一步擴及到全車 這一部分 我們會盡快做國外資料收集 做為國內是否要修法的參考 為強化遊覽車安全管理，交通部已召回166輛與事故同型遊覽車，11輛不合格，3月底前還將召回5175輛查核，4月14日前完成遊覽車丙等業者查核作業。不過，今天有立委揭露，公路總局評鑑為優良的大客車業者，卻仍明顯違法，沒有依規定設"職業安全衛生管理單位"，也沒有繳交定期職災統計資料，連負責稽核的勞動部職安署，都坦承有疏失。 ==勞動部職安署科長 葉錦堂== 在資料上可能就是沒有聯想到 兩者之間的關連性是如何 這次是被委員看出說 怎麼會有優良的 那職安 安全衛生管理部分沒做好 勞動部表示，如果業者在期限內沒有改善，就會依照違反勞工安全衛生法開罰，依照情節不同，可開罰三到十五萬元。 記者 綜合報導