that’s why I asked you. He could be rushing because he was pushed to do so. But to drive many hours and many days in a row doesn’t necessarily make you drive faster. More like the contrary.
A few bits and pieces of the article:
- First, there needs to be a change in the market’s mindset where too much importance is given to impressive-looking, high-bodied, double-decker buses while demanding low fares.
- The high-bodied tour and commuter buses that one sees in other countries have tri-axle chassis, which makes them safer than the two-axle chassis that are the norm in Taiwan.
It then explains about height and center of gravity.
- change to importing complete vehicles, or require Taiwanese coachbuilders to improve their workmanship in line with international regulations.
- This could be combined with a requirement to improve safety by raising load limits to 19 tonnes or more, as well as adopting higher-grade vehicle structure design.
- Vehicle age requirements should be complemented by the establishment of a genuine testing system.
- encourage the local auto industry to integrate with the many manufacturers that make specialized auto parts for carmakers around the world.
- Apart from continuing to monitor hazardous road sections and making the requisite improvements, real-time dynamic warning systems could be installed at accident hotspots to remind drivers to pay attention to safety.
- strictly implementing a phase-out mechanism for companies that get a C or D rating in routine inspections.
Those new guidelines are being revised.
Bus driver died of karoshi at the wheel in Taichung. Family fighting for compensation, justice and precedent to stop carnage.
Second karoshi this month:
Taipei, March 6 (CNA) The driver of a tour bus that crashed into a house Monday in Wanli, New Taipei, had probably suffered a heart attack, but 22 Chinese tourists and one Chinese group leader aboard the bus were not harmed.
The driver, aged around 40 and identified only by his surname Chen, is suspected of having suffered a myocardial infarction when he lost control of his bus and crashed into the house, to the great consternation of two people inside the building at the time.
…
Firefighters who rushed to the scene found that Chen had no pulse and was not breathing. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where efforts to resuscitate him failed.
An emergency ward physician said Chen showed no apparent injuries and that his death was probably caused by myocardial infarction, but added that the exact cause of death will not be clear until an autopsy has been carried out.
Police said that the bus was seriously damaged by impact, and that they took out the vehicle recorder and were examining nearby surveillance cameras to help determine the cause of the accident.
Three of the Chinese tourists suffered scratches but refused medical treatment. They resumed their itinerary after another tour bus was arranged for them.
Citing the occupational hazard act, the department said that Iris should compensate Kang’s family the equivalent of 45 times Kang’s monthly salary, and passed the ruling to the Ministry of Labor for review.
The ministry approved the ruling and set the deadline for compensation to be paid today, the department said.
If Iris fails to pay the compensation, it faces a NT$1 million fine, the department said, adding that it would continue to fine the company until the compensation is paid.
Speaking by telephone, Chou said that he would pay the compensation on the condition that Kang’s family bears responsibility for the accident and compensates him.
Worse part is the collusion with the alleged law agencies. One suspcts this Chou character is a very good supporter of certain politicians. He does have a lot of clout. With that kind of power, no surprise he wil be in business in onw way or another pretty soon. If you expect any concience from him, remember he was driving himslef and parking on a red line days after the accident. Money is his concern, at any cost.
She decried the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office’s handling of the case, saying that because prosecutors had not informed Kang’s family before inspecting the bus wreckage, they had been denied an opportunity to prove that Kang was not at fault for the accident.
The bus, manufactured by Volvo, had a 39 passenger capacity, but had seats for up to 45 passengers, she said.
She also questioned whether the prosecutors’ office compared the weight, dimensions and brakes of the bus with buses of the same model owned by other travel agencies, accusing the office of attempting to tilt its probe in favor of the rich and powerful.
She said that Yeow Lih Transportation, whose partnership with Iris allowed drivers take passengers on more tours, threatened to sue Kang’s family if it did not settle for NT$4 million, far less than the Act for Protecting Worker from Occupational Accidents (職業災害勞工保護法) and the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) stipulate.
Citing the occupational hazard act, the department said that Iris should compensate Kang’s family the equivalent of 45 times Kang’s monthly salary, and passed the ruling to the Ministry of Labor for review.
Many rumored faults with the bus, like brakes and used parts and otehr stuff, has been pushed under the rug. One thing is not to willingly damage a whole industry and the other is harming it willfully by not enforcing civilized safety standards.
Update: bus drivers’ union explains how overwork makes everyone safer. 
He [Union chairman Lee Shih-chia (李式嘉)] said tour bus operators would soon see their operational costs rise when a new policy restricting driving hours takes effect next month, in which tour bus operators are required to change drivers if the driver’s working time exceeds the legal limit.
He said that the measure would expose bus passengers to greater danger if bus drivers who take over have trouble getting used to driving the tour bus within a short period of time, adding that companies would be fined NT$9,000 if they refuse to change drivers.
Taiwan 
Does that mean I’m in grave danger when I catch the first bus in the morning to somewhere because the driver isn’t used to the bus yet?
I don’t blame the bus drivers, they don’t have a choice, but the business owners are despicable and if I had superpowers they’d all have stage 4 cancer and die within a month. Politicians too.
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The bus drivers union seems more worried about the money than safety. If they are required to maintain basic safety standards they will be pushed out of business and only the big tour bus companies can compete.
Well sorry, if you can’t afford to provide a safe working bus with drivers that are fit for the task, then you should leave the driving to the operators who can do it correctly.
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This.
On a related note, recently I have the feeling that NORMAL food has been substituted by crappy, industrial FAKE shit that is easier/faster/cheaper to produce and sell. And the second stage of this process to crappiness is to charge high prices for NORMAL food like if it were delicatessen.
Fatal Tour Bus Crash Case: Prosecutors Decide Not to Prosecute Operators
. . . .the bus driver, Kang Yu-hsun (康育薰), was the main cause of the fatal crash. Kang also could not be prosecuted because he died in the crash.
http://www1.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=article&mnum=112&anum=19754
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Sigh. Thanks for the update. Something like this was expected.
In related news, one wonders if the problematic buses used to shuttle the athletes at Universiade had to be selected from the “poor” bus lines affected by the “bad” cross strait relations and derived “lack” of tourists… just saying…
Unfortunately, one more bus accident:
http://m.focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201709120011.aspx
However,
The driver was probably not exausted
The driver of the Taipei-bound bus had just returned to work after a 19-hours break, it added.
The bus was probably in good condition
According to data from the Directorate General of Highways, the Aloha bus is six years old and was scheduled for a regular inspection on Sept. 26.
The driver’s documentation and historic seems to be in order
Meanwhile, the driver’s commercial driving license is valid until March 17, 2022 and he has no prior major traffic violations on his record, data showed.
Probably just a moment of distraction…
Anyway, kudos to the company for handling it as it should. A rare case in Taiwan.
Aloha Bus said it would cover all medical expenses for those injured and help families file death compensation claims.
In addition, Aloha Bus said in a statement issued Tuesday that it takes full responsibility for the accident and will make an initial payment of NT$100,000 (US$3,400) to the families of the deceased and NT$2,000 to the injured.
Already suspicions that the tachograph was tampered with, apparently it’s showing the bus doing a nice constant 100kmph for the whole journey, which is great except it stopped twice along the route for passengers…
Two things seem to have had an effect on life or death chances: side of the bus -most dead where on the right side- and wearing a seatbelt -several passengers flew away so far, took the search and rescue crews a long time to find all 17 passengers.
Wasn’t Aloha involved in another accident, something about a door locked if I recall?
I remember the owner lying outright on tv.