"We Do Not Know What to Say About the Bus Accidents"

bianet spoke with Istanbul Bus Private Public-Bus Owners and Operators Small-Business Owners Chamber Head İsmail Yüksel about the accidents involving four privately-owned public-buses and one municipality bus from July 27 until today.

İsmail Yüksel said they do not know the reason for the accidents causing deaths and injuries in the past six days, and that investigation is ongoing.

He denied the claims that the vehicles use cheap diesel oil, and said that drivers over the speed limit get immediate warnings and that vehicles are steadily sent for maintenance.

Driver training

İsmail Yüksel said that one must have had a drivers’ license for at least three years to become a private owned public bus driver, and that applicants have to submit criminal records and medical reports as well as take a psychotechnics test at Istanbul Electrical Tram and Tunnel Establishments (İETT).

“İETT awards a certificate to those that succeed at the end of this process.”

“When drivers make a mistake, such as mistreat a customer or enter into an accident, their certificate is revoked. They are punished and enter back into training, to receive a certificate all over again if they are successful.

“Drivers cannot get a certificate again if they are 100 percent at fault.”

Yüksel recounted that the bus drivers involved in the accidents of the past week will not be able to continue working and will have to re-enter the tests having lost their certificates, and that the ones completely at fault will not have the chance to re-take the tests either.

Cheap oil

bianet asked Yüksel about the “cheap diesel oil” claims in discussion since a Tuzla-to-Cevizlibağ (no: 500T) bus in Istanbul caught fire around Kavacık on Sunday, July 27 causing the death of four passengers.

“The vehicles are covered by a guarantee. Ne type diesel Euro-5, Euro-6 engines do not burn that oil,” responded Yüksel, denying the claims.

Vehicle maintenance

Yüksel asserted that the vehicles are “steadily sent for maintenance,” and that the accidents took place with new vehicles.

“They were 2012, 2013 model vehicles. The vehicle that burned a model dated 2013. Every year the vehicles pass a technical inspection at the İETT garage. When there is something that stands out to the naked eye, such as if smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe, the vehicle is called back. Intermittently, too, vehicles are called back for inspections.”

Speed

Yüksel responded to claims that the buses go too fast saying, “drivers receive warnings from the İETT control center when they go over the limit.”

“They cannot exceed 80 kilometers per hour on the highway, and 50 kilometers per hour in the city. The İETT control center issues constant warnings of speeding through devices installed on the cars. Speeders are punished.”

Yüksel explained that the passengers of the buses sorted by region are pooled together and that drivers are not paid per passenger.

“The departure and arrival times of the buses are set. There is a pool system. Drivers don’t have an incentive to chase for passengers.”

Recent accidents

İsmail Yüksel stated that the private owned public buses that drove on to the pavement in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district yesterday and that hit the roadside barriers on the Şile road again in Istanbul on July 29 were not over the speed limit and that he did not know whether the vehicles in question had been warned for speeding, and noted that he awaiting an expert’s report on the bus that caught fire.

And his comment about the accidents in succession in four private owned public buses within one week is as follows:

“One caught fire, one says ‘my brakes faded,’ … Is it coincidence, is it an act of God, we do not know what to say. That four accidents took place within one vacation... When you look at it, it’s puzzling, but when you’re on the inside as we are, we can’t find anything to say. We cannot fathom. They’re accidents. We don’t think they’re linked.”

“The drivers need to be careful, too. Let us not link everything with accidents. One needs to be careful.”

“Both the İETT’s and our investigations are going on. We refer to them now as accidents, but soon we will find out who is at how much fault. If the driver is at fault, they will be punished accordingly, or if there’s something that stems from the bus production company, this will reflect onto them.”

“We feel sorrow, these shouldn’t have happened.”

Passenger complaints

Yüksel stated that the complaints about İETT and about private owned public buses come to them, and that they are evaluated.

He added that passengers can reach them or İETT through the numbers given on the vehicles about any problems they encounter. (BK/PU)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish. 

* Photo credit: Yüce Yöney / Kabataş