Cheap, cheerful, but dangerous(3)

Stricter measures

On March 1, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology halted the production and sale of sleeper buses and the Ministry of Public Security refused to register them for use.

Experts said the authorities should better manage the operation of sleeper buses and the operating companies should make greater efforts to ensure passenger safety.

Wang Dongming warned that the immediate outlawing of sleeper buses would have a negative economic impact because the industry employs thousands of drivers and serves thousands of passengers.

"To solve the problem, we should use market forces. By promulgating stricter measures, the cost of operating sleeper buses would increase and eradicate the price advantage," said Wang. "If higher prices meant that people didn't choose sleeper buses, the business would die out."

Chu Chenggen suggested that the government should increase investment in more secure means of transport, such as rail. "As our economy grows, I believe the transport system will become increasingly efficient and the range of choices will improve and offer more than just sleeper buses," he said.

Death on the roads

At 6:34 am, Jan 5, 2009

Fifteen passengers died and 28 were injured when a sleeper bus from Shenzhen in Guangdong province rolled down a 112-meter-high hillside on its way to Tongren in Guizhou province.

At 3 am, May 23, 2010

Thirty-three passengers died and 24 were injured when an overcrowded sleeper bus, heading to Heilongjiang province from Tianjin, caught fire following a collision with a trailer. The overloaded trailer was traveling in the wrong lane.

At 7:50 am, March 14, 2011

On the 318 National Highway, a sleeper bus traveling from Chengdu in Sichuan province to the Tibet autonomous region plunged 100 meters onto another highway. Police said excessive speed and driver error led to 16 deaths and 21 injuries.

At 3:43 am, July 22, 2011

A sleeper bus from Weihai in Shandong province to the capital city of Changsha in Hunan province caught on fire in Xinyang, Henan province. The fire left 41 dead and 6 injured.

At 1:50 am, June 20, 2012

Seventeen people died and 28 were injured when a double-decker sleeper bus from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, to Xiamen, Fujian province, careered down a 36-meter-deep valley.

At 2:40 am, Aug 26, 2012

A sleeper bus crashed into the back of a tanker carrying methanol, a highly combustible liquid, on a highway in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, resulting in 36 fatalities and 3 injuries.