Buses Continue To
Operate With Doors Open
Despite Recent Fatal
Accidents
Public buses running
with their doors open
continue despite a crack
down by the Policía de
Tránsito and deaths,
like that of Maria Calvo
last November and Blanca
Fernandez on Wednesday.
The practice of bus
drivers operating their
unit with the doors
fully open is common.
Passengers can be easily
flung out the door when
the bus makes a sudden
stop or swerves to avoid
hitting another vehicle.
That was the case of 44
year old Calvo when she
died while stepping off
a bus travelling from
Tres Rios to San José,
hit by a passing
vehicle. In that case,
if the driver had kept
the doors closed up to
until he came to a full
stop at the bus stop,
the accident could have
been avoided.
In the case of Fernandez
on Wednesday, witnesses
say the woman stepped
off the bus when the
driver did not make her
stop, falling onto the
ground and hitting her
head on the curb. Again,
like in the Calvo case,
had the driver had the
door closed, the
accident could have been
avoided.
A look at many buses
operating in the San
Jose area yesterday
uncovered that many
buses, large and small,
all circulate with the
doors open. More so, it
is hard to find a bus
that keeps its doors
closed.
The fine for operating a
bus with doors wide open
is only ¢2.000 colones
or us$3.90 the fine
established in article
132 of the "Ley de
Tránsito".
According to Felope
Venegas, chief of
operations at the
Policía de Tránsito, the
fine is insignificant
when it comes to the
security of passengers.
The reforms to the Ley
de Tránsito would
increase that fine to
¢50.000 colones (us$97).
However the reforms are
stalled in the
Legislative Assembly
waiting for legislators
to give this change and
changes to harshly
increase fines and
sanctions for drinking
and driving and
speeding, the two
leading cause of deaths
in traffic accidents. |
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