Bus drivers have pressed the transport chief to make it a licensing requirement that bus drivers be allowed at least an hour's meal time and a 30-minute tea break a day.
The drivers, mostly from Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB), complained they were sometimes allowed only 30 minutes for a meal under the company's current work schedule.
Some 10 drivers staged a rally outside the Transport Department headquarters in Wan Chai before meeting Commissioner of Transport Joseph Lai Yee-tak.
Public concerns over the long working hours of bus drivers have risen since an accident in February in which two KMB double-deckers collided in the Shing Mun Tunnel in Sha Tin. Both drivers and 23 passengers were injured. Media reports said one drivers was exhausted after working 11 hours a day for several days.
Bus Unions Alliance spokesman Wong Yu-loy said: 'Citybus and New World First Bus have already agreed to the one-hour lunch. I see no reason why KMB cannot follow suit.' Meanwhile, Democratic Party legislator Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said he planned to put a motion to the Legislative Council calling on the government to offer free health checks to professional drivers to ensure road safety.
On Sunday, a driver collapsed while his bus was on the Tolo Highway. He was later certified dead.