Amidst safety concerns, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare , Yoko Komiyama requested the bus companies to take special care in terms of the safety rules and regulations. The bus companies have been instructed after a bus crash has claimed lives of seven passengers.
Komiyama has specifically stressed on the amount of time the drivers are suppose to spend behind the wheel. Concerns over safety increased after Chiba based bus operator Rikuentai’s vehicle crashed in to a wall in Gunma Prefecture on April 29, 2012.
The officials from the Transport ministry also revealed that Rikuentai added extra seats on eight of their coaches, which was against their design specifications. The ministry also assured that it will be increasing its bus tour group safety operations from 4,000 to 5,000 locations this year.
The safety inspections will be increased due to the relatively high percentage of infractions being committed in the industry. After the incident, the company denied that the accident occurred due to the violation of regulation in its daily operations. The bus was on the way to Tokyo Disneyland in Chiba from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. The driver of the bus revealed that he dozed off as a result of fatigue.
