In light of this week´s tragic coach crash in Ávila, in which 9 people lost their lives, the worst bus crash in Spain in 5 years, the Interior Minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, is proposing enforcing a reduced speed on buses registered before October 2007, the date when the installation of seat belts in these vehicles were mandatory.
The vehicle involved in this crash was registered in 1997, ten years before the ruling, and was not fitted with passenger seatbelts, resulting in a number of them being thrown around the cabin at the point of impact.
It is estimated that there are 25,000 vehicles currently operating in Spain that fall into the criteria of pre-ruling, and are subsequently not fitted with seatbelts, opening up the problem to debate, with the speed reduction being immediately criticised as “silly” by the President of the ASCABUS coach builders association, Emilio Ugarte, as “These vehicles must have some power and speed in order to advance”.
The Deputy Director of Mobility the Directorate General of Traffic, Federico Fernández, confirmed that they are considering the move and that “It would be a standard consistent with the overall scheme of the speed limitation currently in place”, in the same way that buses permitted to carry standing passengers have a lower limit than coaches where standing is not allowed.
The president of the State Association of Victims of road accident, Francisco Canes, said that the change in the law six years ago failed to solve the problem of older vehicles, and there should have been a transitional period of a year or two imposed on coach operators to adjust their security systems. “It was not done at the time, despite being studied”, according to who considers that all bus passengers should wear seat belts, as, like in cars, they can be lifesaving. He went on to say that lowering the speed limit “seems more a patch than a solution”, and that “bus accidents often have nothing to do with speed”, insisting that the wearing of seat belts must be enforced on all buses.
Canes also blamed the previous government for not imposing this requirement through penalties for companies that have not adapted their vehicles, but by the same virtue, the current administration have also not tackled the problem, as Canes himself states that, “It’s a really serious problem. With belts installed in the bus accident in Ávila, there would have been fewer casualties”.
José Luis Pertierra, director of Fenebús, the association of coach transport entrepreneurs, argues that the measures in reducing speed will not be effective, citing a study by the Institute for Automobile Research (INSIA), which claims that speed is not a factor for establishing a bus accident. Pertierra goes on to argue that the initial reports of this crash are that the driver may have fallen asleep, so speed would not have played a part in this crash.
Appearing in court, the 54 year old driver, identified as R.G.S., denies falling asleep or “nodding off”, stating that a short time before the crash he heard a bang towards the rear of the bus, but ignored it thinking it was just a road “rumble strip”, which he feels could have resulted in a loss of downhill braking in the vehicle. However, the Judge also heard how the driver had been on duty until 11:30 the night before, waking at 06:30 to perform the duties on the fateful day.
Business leaders and coach builders argue the viability of fitting seat belts to older vehicles is neither cost effective nor practical, with Emilio Ugarte stating it would be “totally impossible”, and creating sufficient anchor points on the chassis of the vehicle would weaken the structural integrity of the vehicle.
According to the DGT, the injury accidents in which buses were involved have declined, falling from 2,046 in 2008 to 1,726 in 2012. The data provided by ASCABUS claims that there are still 25,000 buses operating without seat belts, which represents 40% of the total on the road. “Bus travel is safe, in comparison to other vehicles”, concludes Fernández.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39816/
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