A total of 672 passenger vans have failed safety inspections and been taken off the roads, while 8,750 others, or 6.3% of all vans in service, have deficiencies that need to be corrected, according to the Land Transport Department.
The checks were conducted over the past two weeks on public vans and drivers at 229 bus terminals across the country in line with public transport checklists, said Cherdchai Sanunsrisakorn, deputy director-general of the department. It carried out the tests with the state-run Transport Co, the Office of the Vocational Education Commission, police, soldiers and local officials.
Drivers were checked for general preparedness, possession of the proper driving licences, alcohol and narcotics, and driving hours, which must not exceed the legal limit. Vans were checked for general condition both inside and outside, condition of brakes, wheels and tyres, adequate seat belts, doors and fire extinguishers.
Officials checked a total of 138,393 vans between Jan 24 and Feb 2, said Mr Cherdchai. The inspections found that 9,422 did not meet some of the checklist requirements. Of that number, 672 failed to pass safety checks and were ordered to stop services.
The remaining 8,750 vans had minor faults that would not affect the safety of passengers. Their operators were asked to correct the faults, he said.
A total of 265 van drivers did not meet checklist requirements. Twenty-five of them were replaced by new drivers. Most of the drivers who were flagged either did not have licences or did not have the proper licence required for driving a van used for public passenger service. They were given warnings and asked to pay fines.
Mr Cherdchai said the inspections were aimed at improving passenger safety and reducing road accidents involving passenger vans.
The government has vowed to phase out passenger vans on all routes longer than 100 kilometres and replace them with mini-buses that are supposed to be safer. The move followed the public outcry over a Jan 2 accident in which 25 people died after a van and a pickup truck collided in Chon Buri.