Public Buses Continue To Be A Menace
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Some public transport buses are menace on the roads and there is nothing the Policía de Tránsito can do to curb the situation, according to the director of the police unit, Germán Marín.
It is not uncommon to see buses without rails, broken seats and serious mechanical problems, like faulty brakes. However, the current Ley de Tránsito (traffic laws) do not allow for sanctions and the Tránsito police do not have the portable equipment and mechanical knowledge to detect faulty brakes, for instance.
Thus, Tránsito officials are limited to issuing fines for only things such as broken head or tail lights, a missing bumper, faulty windshield wipers or the lack of a fire extinguisher.
Director Marín added that serious mechanical problems are only detected during the semi-annual vehicular inspection by Riteve and that once the buses are on the streets, the controls for serious mechanical problems are minimal to none.
The situation, according to Transport officials, is the reason for many old buses, buses that have lacked maintenance and repairs, to circulate the streets and highways.
Some of these faulty units have been the cause of a number of accidents, some fatal.
It is not difficult to spot these buses.
According to Riteve, fo the 11.000 buses it inspects annually, 19% have not passed the inspection for having faulty brakes, 14% for problems with axles and suspension, 10% with steering problems and 10% for failing gas emissions.
All these are “invisible” problems, but place passenger safety at risk.
According to the Defensoría de Los Habitantes (Ombudsman) only 63 files have been opened against bus operators, resulting from complaints from the public.
