A PHUKET tourist was injured when a bus carrying 38 Finns suffered a brake failure and crashed on Patong Hill on Monday - just hours before a tour bus overturned, killing one man and injuring others.
Officers continue to hunt for ''Nuan,'' the driver involved in the fatal tour bus crash, Police Superintendent Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao of Patong's Kathu station said today.
The 29-year-old driver fled the scene - and the tour bus company could not even provide a record of the man's full name, although he had been an employee for three months.
Phuketwan has since confirmed a report in the Finnish media about the crash that took place on the same downhill stretch towards Patong the previous day.
''The bus was carrying Aurinkomatkat customers from the airport to Patong Beach Resort when the driver noticed a problem with the brakes,'' said the report in the Finnish outlet, Kotimaa.
''Going downhill the bus started to pick up pace, so the bus driver deliberately drove his vehicle into the roadside safetyguard.''
Friction stopped the bus, but a window was broken and a 16-year-old passenger was injured. The boy was given emergency treatment for contusions by ambulance paramedics.
Families on the bus with young children were frightened by the experience. A replacement bus carried them to their resort.
Phuketwan believes the crash came about 3.30pm, when a reporting team encountered a huge tailback while trying to cross the hill that links the west coast resort town of Patong to Phuket City and the main route to the airport.
At 8.30am the following day, the fatal crash occurred on a bend on the same steep rollercoaster descent to Patong. A tour bus returning from a long trip north overturned, killing one man and injuring scores of others, blocking Phuket's main artery for about six hours.
Two bus crashes in the space of two days on Phuket is likely to rekindle debate about the merits of drilling a tunnel at a cost of up to six billion baht through Patong Hill to prevent mishaps on the existing twisting, dangeous route.
Critics of the proposal say that a mishap in the tunnel could pose even greater danger than the hill route poses at present. Road safety experts have said that existing laws and regulations governing all vehicle would have to be enforced to ensure a tunnel was safe.
Officers continue to hunt for ''Nuan,'' the driver involved in the fatal tour bus crash, Police Superintendent Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao of Patong's Kathu station said today.
The 29-year-old driver fled the scene - and the tour bus company could not even provide a record of the man's full name, although he had been an employee for three months.
Phuketwan has since confirmed a report in the Finnish media about the crash that took place on the same downhill stretch towards Patong the previous day.
''The bus was carrying Aurinkomatkat customers from the airport to Patong Beach Resort when the driver noticed a problem with the brakes,'' said the report in the Finnish outlet, Kotimaa.
''Going downhill the bus started to pick up pace, so the bus driver deliberately drove his vehicle into the roadside safetyguard.''
Friction stopped the bus, but a window was broken and a 16-year-old passenger was injured. The boy was given emergency treatment for contusions by ambulance paramedics.
Families on the bus with young children were frightened by the experience. A replacement bus carried them to their resort.
Phuketwan believes the crash came about 3.30pm, when a reporting team encountered a huge tailback while trying to cross the hill that links the west coast resort town of Patong to Phuket City and the main route to the airport.
At 8.30am the following day, the fatal crash occurred on a bend on the same steep rollercoaster descent to Patong. A tour bus returning from a long trip north overturned, killing one man and injuring scores of others, blocking Phuket's main artery for about six hours.
Two bus crashes in the space of two days on Phuket is likely to rekindle debate about the merits of drilling a tunnel at a cost of up to six billion baht through Patong Hill to prevent mishaps on the existing twisting, dangeous route.
Critics of the proposal say that a mishap in the tunnel could pose even greater danger than the hill route poses at present. Road safety experts have said that existing laws and regulations governing all vehicle would have to be enforced to ensure a tunnel was safe.
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"Critics of the proposal say that a mishap in the tunnel could pose even greater danger than the hill route poses at present."
Not using a rocky road over a hill reduces A LOT of risk for accidents. A plain road without much curves...
If you do it right, the risks of a tunnel can be reduced. To do it right:
1. separate tunnel tubes for each direction, "twin tube" as opposed to oncoming traffic tunnel
2. an additional rescue tunnel, which can be used mainly as an escape route, as well as access for emergency services;
3. Ventilation system with jet fans and possibly ventilation shafts;
4. Systems for visibility measurement, smoke detectors and wind speed measurement
5. Sprinkler system for fire fighting and water supply pipe;
6. Escape route information with distance and escape lighting;
7. Emergency niche with emergency call system and fire detectors and fire extinguishers;
8. Drainage system for flammable liquids;
9. Surveillance camera;
10. Emergency stopping bays in road tunnels.
Not rocket science.
Posted by Lena on March 10, 2011 14:15
Editor Comment:
Er, sure, Lena. Now please name a tunnel with motorcycle swarms and sidecars and tuk-tuks and gas cylinders and vehicles large and small that have never had their annual checks for safety.