I noticed that my colleagues in the office haven’t spoken about this tragedy like they usually do about other news. It seems strangely callous to me, and I can’t help but wonder if it was because it was a Chinese tour group and almost like it was not on Taiwanese soil. I really don’t understand why people aren’t more outraged about safety conditions on buses especially since buses are a major part of our transportation system here. Perhaps they are and I have just missed it? I do see the reporting on the local news. I would like to hear about the safety regulations in place, and what will be done to enforce them.
Stuff like this has happened (in various other forms) approximately one gazzilion times since I’ve arrived here. Perhaps your office mates are simply inured.
Safety culture here seems to be, well, not exactly fully developed. Every office I’ve worked in since I’ve arrived has had exactly ONE usable exit after hours (evenings and weekend, when many of us are here working). Other potential exits are bolted shut, sometimes with bars across. I am surrounded by people with PhDs, many of which were earned overseas. I have yet to meet a single Taiwanese that thinks this dangerous set-up is objectionable.
On the other hand, if there is an identifiable villain in one of these horrible events, and if the media picks up on it, well, watch the pitch forks fly for a while. Then it’s back to business as usual.
Guy
I think many people just have given up. For example, there has been some speculations as to whether the exit door was locked. This is supposedly to prevent thefts on board when the bus is parked. That practice, as I said before, had been identified in SEVERAl other accidents and supposedly it is one of the firts things in the official revisions.
I also remember several accidents where someone has leaned on the exit door, it gave way… person ended up falling in the middle of the road.
Tommy mentioned the Greyhound buses that have windows that can be opened. They were showing last night the old GuoKuang Hao buses -old grey and blue ones, ususally on airport route, made in the US BTW- that have this feature. Why don’t all buses do? Well, because children might accidentally open the window and fall off. Also, people complained about the noise and dirt and smog getting in. So sealed windows it is.
However, the sealed windows have also safety features, like the hammers or can be pushed out.
The double decker height buses offer better views, but as seen, make it difficult for someone from the outside to break the windows to save lives.
Most bus lines have a video to show people how to escape the bus in case of fire. However, ther have been complaints to the tour guides, as to why to show that, it would scare people away, no one does that.
Talking about scaring people away, there was already talk on the news that “that section of the road is haaunted”, because “it seems that in that area horrible acidents happen, the ones that end up win decapitation, dismemberment, burning etc”…like the famous half faced accident victim -they swear they saw the victim standing by the side of the car while they tried to retrieve the missing body parts trapped inside the vehicle. Eh, maybe something about the road design instead?
Which goes back to what was mentioned that safety practices overall, especially at workplaces and such, are quite defficient. I have told you about the window washers on the 15th floor without safety lines and walking barefoot while operating electric equipment. On a government building. Remember the SA workers who fell off the Taoyuan airport roof? And don’t get me started on drills or basic safety standards. Crooked columns, faulty electric setups, explosions… not to mention the oassional angry people carrying flammables. heck, during the student occupation of the LY, we were on lokdown every day… yet no instructions were given as to what to do in case the students did try to get in while we were all working inside. Talking about accidents and bad thinsg that could happen is taboo. Sigh.
Etc. ad nauseum.
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You got it right, I’d say… 
…because “unqualified parts” can easily cause problems (such as overloading the electric system, etc.)
When you think it through (Icon’s last post points in the very same direction), most accidents come down to human error: metal frames, tires, electric circuits, etc., act and react according to the non-negotiable laws of physics (nature), but people believe they have supernatural powers that allow them to cut corners…
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Yes Icon thats what I meant, those old Kuo kwang buses were MCI, made in USA buses. And i rode them and they had openable windows. What do they use now?
Some wild chicken buses in those days were made in europe Benz 0303 and Volvo and Scania. Later they started using imported chassis and building bus bodies in Taiwan. Which is fine. Let’s just NOT forget emergency escapes on all sides so that a burning bus can be evacuated quickly. Bus fires are not uncommon. Mostly related to engines catching on fire. But now apparently other things like entertainment systems can overheat and catch on fire.
Have they found out what caused this blaze?
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Nah, it’s like why they don’t give a damn regarding drunk driving. We had two within this past two weeks. If it doesn’t hurt their individual benefits/rights personally, be assured these keep repeating. Why this country doesn’t improve, some people mentioned, is the mindset; not the government, the media, China, 22K. And I totally agree, seeing how idiotic things like these keep repeating.
BTW, as in the usual “face saving” scramble that happens every time something happens, there is a long line of tour buses at the equivalent of DMV. The task at hand? To paste EMERGENCY EXIT on the outside of the buses -that we have seen. I hope they follow as well with other better marking inside, I guess. Light/fluorescent strips like the ones used in planes, for those times the smoke is too thick to see where you are going, might be helpful too.
Is the emergency exit still locked?
There isn’t one, they’re just adding the sticker.
Something like this:
Windows are sealed. But they have the system that they can be pushed out.
Exactly. Where’s the recommend button?! 
Thanks!
Would be a lot more logical if the doors had those kick-out panels. Would be easy and cheap to re-fit the buses, too.
Actually, they showed other model buses. Opening the emergency exit should be easy. As said, in some buses, too easy.
This one might have had a mechanism encased in a separate side, which had to be released before opening the door, hence, in panic/unfamiliar/something else, they couldn’t open it.
And in thsi case, both left side doors were simply physically impossible to use. One on fire, other destroyed.
*Note: from the latest info and a few live TV goofs when trying to demostrate the mechanism of the emergency exists, it seems opening those doors ain’t easy and that could have cost the victims’ lives.
That pic you showed looked like an MCI (made in usa greyhound type) bus. And they looked like sealed windows but they are hinged on top and a big red handle will unlock them and you can easily move them outwards for easy escape.
An alarm goes off if they are opened so the driver knows if they are opened. Which is fine in a fire/emergency.
2 big questions in tonight’s talk shows:
- Why did the fire spread so fast? 1.4 km, less than a minute.
- Was the exit door locked? How about the emergency windows? Where are the hammers?
From Shanghaiist:
In case you have to face such situation (I really hope you don’t!), here is the lock:
Also, EBC News asked a manager of a tour bus agency to test an emergency door of the same model. The manager took 20 seconds to successfully open the door, making it very questionable that the door would have been opened in an emergency situation, especially with passengers’ vision blurred by smoke.
According to Apple Daily over 90% of tour buses in Taiwan have such anti-theft bolts installed. 
Sure sounds like a death trap.
Indeed. Maybe they might -woulda, coulda- have figured out how to remove the bolt if they had had time to read the instructions, but in the chaos, the fear, the heavy smoke and the lack of time… that was not possible.
They are still trying to figure out how the heck the bus caught fire so devastantingly so quickly.
The issue is that fully imported buses could be safer, original parts and all, but the taxes on them add to an onerous price. Some are proposing that legislation be passed so that imported buses can be used, say, 10 years, while locally modified buses only 6 tops. That would balane the cost. Still, the price is significantly lower for just importing the chasis and filling in teh interior with local stuff using local labor.
Problem with the locally modified is that people, customers, for example, demand karaoke, it is a vital part of the trip experience. Then we add TV sets, chargers in every seat, etc, BUT there is no legislation, no recommendations even, as to how much amperage, how many electric items can be plugged in the localy modified buses. So people keep adding refrigeratiors, drinking water machines, KTV and nmovie and screens and … etc… without safety standards… because there are none. One phone charging needs little power. 40 phones charging at the same time, al lot. Meanwhile, you have air conditioning blasting, KTV speakers, lights, etc.
This company in particular had an “accident” in 2014, with a 2 YEAR OLD bus. One of the speakers in a sophisticated audio system short circuited, but people were able to escape. It raises questions as to what they are putting in when a 2 year old bus has such failure due to something that shouln’t cause such a huge fire. But it did. And that is why it got worse with this one, wher ea 6 year old bus turns into a death trap in less than a minute.
The bus materials have to be examined, not just the power lines and such. The driver died of smoke inhalation. True, most materials when burning can kill you, but such a devastating fire and killing power hints at something worse.
A lot of fire safety stuff in Taiwan is just nonsensical - like those abseiling kits installed in many buildings.
They take ages to set up and are dangerous to use even in ideal (daylight / no fire) situations.