Thai Transport department to enforce slope test for public transport buses

[webfact]

Transport department to enforce slope test for public transport buses



BANGKOK: -- The Land Transport Department has issued a regulation requiring public transport buses of over 3.60 meters high to pass a 30-degree slope test.

The move by the department followed several highway accidents involving public transport buses, particularly double-deck buses which resulted in a large number of casualties.

The department’s director-general Asdsathai Rattanadilok na Phuket said the regulation applies to buses registered after Jan 1, 2013 and older.

A total of 17,588 buses need to pass the test, 5,741 of them are double-decker buses.

He said the department tested a total of 842 double-decker buses in 2013, 481 of them (57.1%) passing inspection, while 361 buses failing.

It also tested 408 other, and 224 of them (54.9%) passed but the other 184 buses did not.

Bus owners would be allowed to improve the bus condition and get the test again within one month. If the buses still do not pass the test, another three months will be given. If the buses still do not pass the third test, another six months will be allowed for improvement.

But he said if the buses still do not pass the final test, owner will not be able to renew the annual license registration.

He warned that if buses failed the slope test are caught being used, owners will face up to five years of jail term and fine of 40,000 baht.

All buses are required to install safety belts at all seats within April 1. Buses failed to have the safety belts will not be able to renew annual license registration and owners will face up to 50,000 baht fine.

New regulations are also in process such as the standard on the strength of the seat and the vehicle’s body, efficient braking system for large public vehicles, he added.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/transport-department-enforce-slope-test-public-transport-buses/


-- Thai PBS 2014-03-28

[noikrit]

This Headline goes down as one of the best ...... No further comment ....

[Dr Bruce]

The bus was OK until you put a slope on it or until you put it on a slope?

[harrry]

If the bus does not pass the tests for registration it is obviously not in a safe condition and hence should not be given any extra time.

I hope those who complain about Top Gear read this headline

[webfact]

TRANSPORT CHECKS
Nearly half the buses fail stability tests
THE NATION

All 17,588 buses must pass test by 2018

BANGKOK: -- Nearly half the buses that went through stability tests of the Land Transport Department last year were found to have failed .

The tests are for buses 3.6 metres or taller, including double-deckers.

"Of 1,250 buses tested, just 705 have passed," Department director-general Asdsathai Rattanadilok Na Phuket said yesterday.

According to the Thailand Accident Research Centre, accidents involving buses have already claimed 100 lives since last October.

On Tuesday, Assoc Prof Dr Kunnawee Kanitpong of the Centre disclosed the information and pointed out that research showed single-deck buses were far safer than double-deckers in mountainous areas or steep roads. She spoke a day after a double-decker plunged into a ravine in Tak, killing 29 people.

Asdsathai yesterday led a press tour around a test centre in Pathum Thani in a bid to shore up public confidence in bus transportation.

"We have required buses with a height of 3.6 metres up to undergo stability tests since April 2012," he said. He added the tests would cover 17,588 buses, including 5,741 double-deckers.

Asdsathai expected all these buses to pass the tests before January 1, 2018, explaining that the buses that failed the tests would not be allowed to get or renew their vehicle registration.

According to results from tests conducted in 2013 across all bus types, 43.6 per cent of the tested vehicles failed. By category type, 361, or 42.8 per cent, of the double-deckers tested have failed.

In a bid to boost road safety, the Department is planning to require all buses to have an anti-lock braking system.

"We're even thinking about requiring inter-provincial buses and for-rent buses to include a retarder, a tool that should increase safety when vehicles go downhill," the Department chief said.

Asdsathai also revealed that all vehicles registered after April 1 last year were required to have seat belts for the driver and all passengers before Tuesday.

"Failure to do so will result in a maximum fine of Bt50,000," he said. "Violators won't be allowed to renew vehicle registrations."

The Department is now working on setting the standard for auto bodies, including their seats and anchorage.

"We plan to announce the new rules on this in June," Asdsathai said.

People who come across buses with poor safety can contact the Public-Bus Passenger Protection Centre 1584 hotline round the clock.


-- The Nation 2014-03-28

[Thai at Heart]

Bus owners would be allowed to improve the bus condition and get the test again within one month. If the buses still do not pass the test, another three months will be given. If the buses still do not pass the third test, another six months will be allowed for improvement.

But he said if the buses still do not pass the final test, owner will not be able to renew the annual license registration.

He warned that if buses failed the slope test are caught being used, owners will face up to five years of jail term and fine of 40,000 baht.

Do they realise how absurd this makes them sound. Every time the bus fails , the time to repair gets longer. 45% are failing.

Are they really going to put 45% of the buses off the road?

[AhFarangJa]

When I read the headline I thought Jeremy Clarkson was doing a report for Top Gear..

[Patje]

He warned that if buses failed the slope test are caught being used, owners will face up to five years of jail term and fine of 40,000 baht.

Should be X times for each person that is killed or wounded in the bus !!!

[pedro01]

This Headline goes down as one of the best ...... No further comment ....

If Jeremy Clarkson had written that, woulda been racist...

[bulekee]

The bus was OK until you put a slope on it or until you put it on a slope?

Ask Jeremy Ckarkson,he knows all about slopes.

[tomyummer]

That doesn't make any sense. It applies only to new busses registered after January 2013? It's the older smoke blasting, music blaring dinosaurs on the road that we should be afraid of.

[PatOngo]

When will bus drivers be subjected to a stability test?

[DirtFarmer]

I watched this test on tv last night.. laughed my @$$ off... a still... non running bus...no inertia allotted for..pot holes etc .speed of vehicle... lol..sobriety of the driver.. amount of Kriting Dang.... pretty much a fail fail..but I guess they have to appear to be addressing the issue

[Bluespunk]

If the bus does not pass the tests for registration it is obviously not in a safe condition and hence should not be given any extra time.

I hope those who complain about Top Gear read this headline

Why would anyone complain? JC used the word in it's form as a term of racist abuse in a failed attempt at humour [deliberately, it wasn't just an unfortunate coincidence], whereas this article uses it in it's form as a word to indicate an incline.

[Bluespunk]

This Headline goes down as one of the best ...... No further comment ....

If Jeremy Clarkson had written that, woulda been racist...

Why?

[Showbags]

The bus was OK until you put a slope on it or until you put it on a slope?

Ask Jeremy Ckarkson,he knows all about slopes.

Its their country...they should be allowed on.

[chainarong]

Buses need to be world standard design, the Drivers need to have special buss licences ,equivalent to western qualifications , yearly test and I am dreaming , amazing Thailand

[bangkokheat]

thats it, straight to the root of the problem, its the buses fault, drivers no need to upgrade driving skills now, more time for drinking

[Crossy]

and Thailand has just had this idea??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-fZA1NJtPA

[bangkokheat]

I watched this test on tv last night.. laughed my @$$ off... a still... non running bus...no inertia allotted for..pot holes etc .speed of vehicle... lol..sobriety of the driver.. amount of Kriting Dang.... pretty much a fail fail..but I guess they have to appear to be addressing the issue

if i remember correctly this is a standard rollover test as would be conducted in oz, nothing to do with speed or potholes etc

[harrry]

The standard test also has sandbags on the top deck to represent the load.

[bangkokheat]

last year in thailand i saw a double decker bus going thru a sweeping bend, im certain it passed the 30 degree test cause this bus im sure was on a 29.5 degree lean

[ginjag]

The standard test also has sandbags on the top deck to represent the load.

No shortage of these can pick them up from any road checkpoint free without confrontation, and countless in the evening lined up waiting for customers on Beach road Pattaya.

[harrycallahan]

Fat people bottom, skinnies up top.

[Showbags]

Fat people bottom, skinnies up top.

The Kardashian look !!

[Jim walker]

The people carrying out the test will be able to make a good few Bahts from the bus owners for a fail if they need to purchase a pass certificate, I suppose any little thing helps regarding road safety in Thailand it’s a start.

[monkey4u]

If the bus does not pass the tests for registration it is obviously not in a safe condition and hence should not be given any extra time.

I hope those who complain about Top Gear read this headline

This is true Thai logic, give more time

Not to repair, just to make extra revenue

[noitom]

"Owners, if caught, will face up to...." But they will not get. This Thai story is preposterous. The mere idea of a "slope test" is ludicrous. Any traveler contemplating a trip on one of these Thai buses should be admitted immediately to the nearest psychiatric ward. Can you imagine a "slope test" for double decker buses in Thailand? It's a good idea to post this story to all foreign embassy web sites in Thailand. Just so tourists will get an idea of the latest Thai "scheme."

[bangkokheat]

Confucius say, man sitting on a slope not necessarily on the level

[harada]

The people carrying out the test will be able to make a good few Bahts from the bus owners for a fail if they need to purchase a pass certificate, I suppose any little thing helps regarding road safety in Thailand it’s a start.

I'm sure that the printers on Kao San road will be pumping them out as we speak.