Report: DOTC, LTO to set tougher requirements for bus drivers

After a string of bus-related accidents including a smashup that killed seven people in Batangas on Sunday, authorities are preparing to impose stricter requirements for bus drivers. Radio dzBB reported that government agencies will start requiring drivers to show a certification that they have undergone a road safety program from agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said the drivers will have to submit the certification before they can be allowed to drive public buses. LTO enforcement division head Edgar Cabase Jr. said they will also require training for bus drivers, road safety lecturers, and law enforcers. Several lives were lost last year due to accidents involving buses. In many of the cases, the drivers blamed the failure of the bus brakes. In August last year, at least 35 people were killed after a bus plunged into a 100-meter ravine in Northern Luzon. In December, at least four people were killed after a bus fell into a 50-foot ravine in Pagbilao town in Quezon province. Bus firm faces franchise cancellation The bus operator in Sunday's grim accident that killed at least seven people along the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road faces the cancellation of its franchise as authorities started on Monday an investigation into the incident. Radio dzBB's Manny Vargas said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ordered the Gasat Express Bus to explain why it should not be sanctioned for Sunday's incident. LTFRB Board member Manuel Iway said they expect Gasat to receive a formal copy of the show-cause order within the day. Iway assured Gasat of due process before implementing any sanction against it for the accident. At least seven people were killed in the three-vehicle smashup at the portion of the STAR in Ibaan town in Batangas shortly after noon on Sunday. The initial investigation showed that the bus had just overtaken a Nissan Sentral when it collided with the passenger jeep carrying members of a family heading for Manila. – VVP, GMANews.TV