Rule on bus emergency exits not enforced
Rule on bus emergency exits not enforced
JAKARTA (JP): Managements of inter-city buses say they have either no knowledge of a rule that states all buses must have emergency exits, or do not follow it.
"We have never heard of the rule," a staff member of the Kramatdjati bus company, who requested anonymity, said yesterday.
"Our buses have always passed vehicle tests although we don't have emergency exits," said Krisna Hidayat of another bus company, Hiba Utama.
"We have never had problems with officials checking our buses on the roads," he added.
On Saturday 31 people were killed a bus accident, including 29 passengers on a Kramatdjati bus who were trapped in fire after the bus hit a jeep parked on the hard shoulder of the Jagorawi toll road.
The bus driver told the police he couldn't reach the control buttons to open the automatic doors, which are the only exit points.
The Kramatdjati staff member said there are also no controls accessible to passengers near the doors.
An official in charge of vehicle tests for public transport, Robby Wuisan, said he was not authorized to comment on what constitutes a vehicle test, or explain why the 1993 rule is not enforced.
Emergency exits are mandated in clauses 92 and 93 of the 1993 rule on vehicles and drivers. Clause 93 also rules that signs pointing to exits and their use must be displayed.
On Monday Kompas reported that the secretary-general of the central board of Organda, the association of public transportation owners, was also in the dark of the rule.
The secretary-general, Djauhari Perangin Angin, was also quoted as saying that if vehicles are found to lack required features, appropriate action should be taken.
Hidayat of Hiba Utama said vehicle tests usually cover the construction of the bus, the length of the vehicle, the width of doors, and other aspects.
"But emergency exits are not required," he said.
Hiba Utama's doors are equipped with emergency controls, but Hidayat said the company has not put up any notices about the controls.
"Putting up signs is a dilemma because we have had passengers open doors on the motorway for no reason," he said.
"But after the Kramatdjati accident we are considering whether signs are necessary," Hidayat said.
He said the management has not yet thought about emergency exits.
The source at Kramatdjati also said that the company fears that controls accessible to persons other than the bus crew could be used by robbers posing as passengers.
Staff members of other bus companies confirmed they don't have emergency exits either, but claimed windows can be smashed. (anr)