The fatal three-vehicle accident at Shau Kei Wan must be investigated to determine its cause and how such crashes can be prevented in future ("Bus crash puts focus on health of drivers", November 20).
What would have happened if one of the buses had crashed into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop or on a busy pavement?
If the driver of one of the buses had passed a physical in July, how is it that he collapsed just before the crash? The government must set up an independent committee to look into this and we need to review the hours that bus drivers work.
Road conditions in Hong Kong are always busy and we have to determine what is a safe period of time for a single shift. For example, can a shift of, say, 10 or 11 hours be considered safe? Because the drivers are on low wages, many work overtime so they can make enough to provide for their families. We have to look at the potential risk to the public from overtime.
What needs to be examined is how much rest time is given to the drivers. More buses will be allocated to popular routes. But what happens if there are fewer vehicles on less busy routes and drivers, to meet timetable commitments, do not get enough rest time?
Any probe must determine if this is happening and if it is a regular occurrence.