"Make a good and wise travel itinerary. Do not force the bus driver to drive all day all night,"Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) asked schools to create better and wiser school trip planning to prevent accidents.
The request is made in relation to a bus accident involving students and teachers of Lingga Kencana Vocational High School on a graduation trip to Subang which occurred on Saturday.
"Make a good and wise travel itinerary. Do not force the bus driver to drive all day all night," KNKT Senior Investigator Ahmad Wildan said when contacted by ANTARA on Sunday.
He noted that the driver must not drive more than 12 hours. After driving for 12 hours, the driver must be allowed to rest and then the next day the driver can continue the journey.
"Do not make a plan where drivers drive during both the day and night; that is not permissible. At night, bus drivers must rest or sleep," he said.
Wildan further said that a proper place or room must be prepared for bus drivers to sleep to prevent fatigue which can potentially put the passengers' safety at risk.
According to him, one of the risks of accidents that can occur on tour buses is that the tour bus driver experiences fatigue due to driving for too long.
At least 11 people were killed and dozens more injured in Saturday's bus accident.
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Head of the National Police (Polri) Traffic Corps Inspector General Aan Suhanan stated that based on the preliminary investigation result, there were no brake traces found in the incident location in Palasari Village.
He suspected that the bus accident was caused by a failure in the brake function of the bus so that it swerved to the right and hit a car from the opposite direction.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Raka Adji
Editor: Arie Novarina
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