Taipei Bus Rear-end Collision Causes Casualties: TTSB Suggests Driver Fatigue and Distraction as Factors
The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) released its final investigation report on last November's Taipei bus rear-end collision, which resulted in one death and 15 injuries. The report indicates that the driver likely suffered from continuous sleep deprivation, excessive working hours, and previous head injuries, possibly leading to fatigue and cognitive impairment at the time of the accident.
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- 📰 Published: April 29, 2026 at 14:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 29, 2026 at 14:31 (31 min after Published)
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Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Yu Hsiao-tsung, Taipei, 29th) Last November, a Taipei city bus rear-ended another, causing one death and 15 injuries. The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) recently released its final investigation report, which indicates that the driver of the involved bus, surnamed Hsieh from Dayou Bus Company, had continuous sleep deprivation for two consecutive nights before the accident, had twice worked excessively long hours in the three months prior, and had suffered two previous head injuries.
Last November, Taipei Metropolitan Transport's Route 49 bus was waiting for pedestrians to cross a zebra crossing before turning right onto Zhenjiang Street in front of the Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel when it was rear-ended by Dayou Bus Route 212, driven by a driver surnamed Hsieh. This resulted in one pedestrian death and 15 passengers and drivers injured.
The final investigation report on this accident, recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows that the Dayou Bus driver failed to notice the front bus's left rear still extending into the outer lane's extension area when it turned right, colliding at 45 kilometers per hour without any evasive action or braking. This pushed the front bus to hit pedestrians and a commercial taxi in the opposite lane.
The TTSB investigation found that the accident driver suffered from continuous sleep deprivation for two consecutive nights before the accident. The driver's mental state and alertness continued to decline on the day of the accident. The driver was wearing a single-ear non-noise-canceling earphone listening to music at the time of the accident. It is not ruled out that the driver was already distracted, inattentive, and experienced short-term memory loss due to fatigue before the accident.
The accident driver also had two instances of excessively long continuous working days, continuous early morning shifts, and high driving hours in the three months prior, which may indicate accumulated long-term work fatigue and sleep deprivation; moreover, private shift changes after schedule pre-arrangement led to work and rest times not complying with the Labor Standards Act and the Motor Vehicle Transportation Industry Management Regulations.
The TTSB also pointed out that the accident driver had a history of two head injuries and symptoms of cognitive decline from 2018 until the accident. Medical principles and research show that head injuries can cause behavioral and cognitive changes, and it is not ruled out that a temporary decline in cognitive ability further increased the risk of safe driving operations.
The TTSB proposed seven improvement recommendations to Dayou Bus, the Taipei City Department of Transportation, and other units, including: 1. Dayou Bus should ensure that driver attendance complies with relevant laws and regulations when drivers request leave or shift changes. 2. Dayou Bus should examine past accident records or violation frequencies when recruiting drivers and require them to provide health history to ensure driver suitability.
3. The Taipei City Department of Transportation needs to review intersections with similar road types and traffic compositions as the accident site and apply traffic engineering or other methods to reduce the impact of bus right turns on road traffic safety; and 4. Strengthen existing management methods for supervised urban bus operators to ascertain basic conditions of driver driving hours and continuous working days; 5. Supervise Dayou Bus's scheduling and dispatching of its drivers to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
6. The Directorate General of Highways needs to re-evaluate current physical examination items for professional drivers and ensure the accuracy and reliability of self-declarations filled out by drivers during physical examinations; and 7. Promote awareness among bus operators, seat manufacturers, and body builders regarding the safety protection of passenger seat backrest height for the head and neck. (Edited by Chen Ching-fang) 1150429
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(Central News Agency reporter Yu Hsiao-tsung, Taipei, 29th) Last November, a Taipei city bus rear-ended another, causing one death and 15 injuries. The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) recently released its final investigation report, which indicates that the driver of the involved bus, surnamed Hsieh from Dayou Bus Company, had continuous sleep deprivation for two consecutive nights before the accident, had twice worked excessively long hours in the three months prior, and had suffered two previous head injuries.
Last November, Taipei Metropolitan Transport's Route 49 bus was waiting for pedestrians to cross a zebra crossing before turning right onto Zhenjiang Street in front of the Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel when it was rear-ended by Dayou Bus Route 212, driven by a driver surnamed Hsieh. This resulted in one pedestrian death and 15 passengers and drivers injured.
The final investigation report on this accident, recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows that the Dayou Bus driver failed to notice the front bus's left rear still extending into the outer lane's extension area when it turned right, colliding at 45 kilometers per hour without any evasive action or braking. This pushed the front bus to hit pedestrians and a commercial taxi in the opposite lane.
The TTSB investigation found that the accident driver suffered from continuous sleep deprivation for two consecutive nights before the accident. The driver's mental state and alertness continued to decline on the day of the accident. The driver was wearing a single-ear non-noise-canceling earphone listening to music at the time of the accident. It is not ruled out that the driver was already distracted, inattentive, and experienced short-term memory loss due to fatigue before the accident.
The accident driver also had two instances of excessively long continuous working days, continuous early morning shifts, and high driving hours in the three months prior, which may indicate accumulated long-term work fatigue and sleep deprivation; moreover, private shift changes after schedule pre-arrangement led to work and rest times not complying with the Labor Standards Act and the Motor Vehicle Transportation Industry Management Regulations.
The TTSB also pointed out that the accident driver had a history of two head injuries and symptoms of cognitive decline from 2018 until the accident. Medical principles and research show that head injuries can cause behavioral and cognitive changes, and it is not ruled out that a temporary decline in cognitive ability further increased the risk of safe driving operations.
The TTSB proposed seven improvement recommendations to Dayou Bus, the Taipei City Department of Transportation, and other units, including: 1. Dayou Bus should ensure that driver attendance complies with relevant laws and regulations when drivers request leave or shift changes. 2. Dayou Bus should examine past accident records or violation frequencies when recruiting drivers and require them to provide health history to ensure driver suitability.
3. The Taipei City Department of Transportation needs to review intersections with similar road types and traffic compositions as the accident site and apply traffic engineering or other methods to reduce the impact of bus right turns on road traffic safety; and 4. Strengthen existing management methods for supervised urban bus operators to ascertain basic conditions of driver driving hours and continuous working days; 5. Supervise Dayou Bus's scheduling and dispatching of its drivers to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
6. The Directorate General of Highways needs to re-evaluate current physical examination items for professional drivers and ensure the accuracy and reliability of self-declarations filled out by drivers during physical examinations; and 7. Promote awareness among bus operators, seat manufacturers, and body builders regarding the safety protection of passenger seat backrest height for the head and neck. (Edited by Chen Ching-fang) 1150429
Choose to stand with facts. Every sponsorship you make is a force for protecting press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency 'First-hand News' APP to stay updated with the latest news.
Without authorization, the text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and utilized.