EDITORIAL - Unsafe travels

Survivors said they smelled burning rubber before the bus that was supposed to bring them to a resort smashed into an electric post. The bus crumpled from the impact and was further crushed by the toppled lamppost, killing 10 of the college students. Four others died later while being treated in hospitals. The bus driver brought the death toll to 15. As of late yesterday afternoon, several of the 20 survivors remained in critical condition.

Initial reports said about 50 students of Bestlink College of the Philippines in Quezon City had boarded the bus at past 6 a.m. yesterday for a camping activity at the Sacramento Valley Resort in Tanay, Rizal as part of their school’s National Service Training Program.

Near the resort, the tourist bus of Panda Coach Tours and Transport Inc. lost its brakes as it negotiated a blind curve on Magnetic Hill in Barangay Sampaloc in Tanay at around 8:40 a.m. yesterday. The driver apparently decided to hit the electric post to stop the bus, but the high speed made the impact fatal.

It was just the latest deadly accident involving public buses in this country. If it isn’t mechanical failure in the vehicle, it’s the driver that’s at fault. The tour bus yesterday didn’t look like an ancient contraption. But if accounts of survivors are accurate, the accident may be traced to poor vehicle maintenance, with either the brakes malfunctioning or a tire blowing out.

Road mishaps have become among the top causes of accidental deaths in the country, with buses and jeepneys jumping off cliffs or colliding. Previous bus accidents, mostly on steep, winding mountain roads, have also been blamed on drivers taking drugs to stay awake on long trips.

Measures can be undertaken to make transportation safer. Vehicles for public use must be required to undergo regular maintenance. Professional drivers need tighter regulation. All vehicle owners pay a Road User’s Tax, which must be used for road safety facilities such as railings, cat’s eyes and warning signs. While accidents happen, prevention is possible.