The issue of bus driver overwork rose to the forefront once again following two major tour bus accidents in one day. The bus industry union says it is the norm that bus drivers work excessive hours and it recommends digital driver cards to accurately record driver work hours.


Three people were killed and 11 injured in an Aloha Transport bus crash on National Freeway No. 1 on the evening of the 11th. Authorities believe the driver was overworked and lost control of the vehicle. Earlier in the day, one passenger was killed and eight injured in a three-way pileup between a Kuo Kuang bus, cargo truck and pallet truck. As a result, the issue of bus driver overwork is at the forefront once again.

All tour buses, all drivers should have driver cards (that would be swiped) as soon as they get on the bus.

The New Power Party says there have been 169 violations across Taiwan since last year, including 19 tour bus driver overwork cases in Taoyuan. The party says bus companies don't care about fines and overwork in the industry is the norm, and called on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to criminalize repeat offenses by employers. It also says repeat offenders should be stripped of their licenses in accordance with Article 47 of the Highway Act.

Under Article 47 of the Highway Act, the licenses of bus operators can be revoked or their right to operate certain routes can be revoked if they are detrimentally affecting transportation safety. However, all the Ministry of Transportation and Communications ever does is issue NT$9,000 fines.

The national tour bus industry union says driver overwork is as common as drunk driving in Taiwan and it is a shame the government only apologizes or takes action after major accidents. It also says employers often skirt the law and exploit loopholes that keep drivers in an overworked state and driver cards are needed to accurately record driver working hours.



國道1號彰化路段，11號晚間發生重大車禍意外。一輛阿羅哈客運失控衝下邊坡，造成3死11傷，爆出司機超時工作、過勞導致車禍意外。而同一天下午國道1號桃園路段也發生一起國光客運、大貨車和拖板車三車追撞車禍，造成1死8傷。

臺灣客運產業工會理事 范光明表示：「所有包含遊覽車，包含客運司機、駕駛人員卡的控管，你今天駕駛人就一張，你上車以後(就刷)。」

時代力量表示，去年到目前為止全台總共有169件違法事實，桃園也有19起客運司機過勞案例，雇主罰不怕，顯然客運業違反勞動法令的狀況非常嚴重而普遍。要求交通部修法，重大累犯雇主入刑責、也落實公路法47條勒令停業，而非罰款。

時代力量中壢區立委參選人 林佳瑋表示：「公路法第47條裡面就有提到，如果妨礙交通安全的話，其實是可以勒令業者停業的，或者是一部分的路線停駛，可使我們發現在最近交通部，所公布的裁罰裡面，幾乎都是(罰)9000塊錢而已。」

臺灣客運產業工會認為，疲勞駕駛和酒駕危險程度差不多，遺憾政府只在重大事故發生後究責和道歉，而業者玩法，場站多，駕駛員被調來調去，也規避勞檢，建議要有駕駛人員控管卡，確實掌握工作時數。