Thousands of buses "unsafe"
Published: 18 Jul, 2004 CET.
Updated: Sun 18 Jul 2004 11:05 CET
According to an article in Dagens Nyheter on Thursday, every fourth bus on the road in Sweden has such bad brakes that they must be changed immediately. It also appears that the number of fires on buses is increasing as well.
13,419 buses weighing over 3.5 tonnes were examined last year and 39 per cent failed to comply with the Department of Transport's safety guidelines.
"These are incredibly disappointing figures. Astonishing, in fact, especially since the bus industry always claim they are the safest option in public transport", said Thomas Carlson, Press Officer at the road safety watchdog NTF.
But Lars Carlhäll, a manager at the Department of Transport, is not surprised about the figures. He said he is aware of the problem and believes it is a combination of bad roads and the construction of the brakes in the vehicles. He says that a tougher type of test will be introduced "as soon as the Scandinavian countries reach an agreement on terms and conditions".
Comments
See Also
13,419 buses weighing over 3.5 tonnes were examined last year and 39 per cent failed to comply with the Department of Transport's safety guidelines.
"These are incredibly disappointing figures. Astonishing, in fact, especially since the bus industry always claim they are the safest option in public transport", said Thomas Carlson, Press Officer at the road safety watchdog NTF.
But Lars Carlhäll, a manager at the Department of Transport, is not surprised about the figures. He said he is aware of the problem and believes it is a combination of bad roads and the construction of the brakes in the vehicles. He says that a tougher type of test will be introduced "as soon as the Scandinavian countries reach an agreement on terms and conditions".
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.