Van operators face end-March GPS deadline

A GPS tracker enables the driver to know his exact location, but allows his base station to be able to figure his speed and other real-time trip details. It cannot detect or alert a sleepy driver. (File photo)

A Global Positioning System (GPS) will have to be installed in all 4,000 vans being used by operators of joint public-private van services by the end of March.

After March 31, if any such van is found to not have GPS, a warning will be given first, said Transport Co acting president Amnat Unardngam.

Van operators will be fined if they are later found to have still not complied.

The Transport Co, which grants transport concessions to inter-provincial van services, is sorting out vans according to types of operators for a possible plan to make them switch to micro-buses instead, said Pol Gen Amnat.

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Some vans are operated by juristic persons and others are personal vans owned by individuals, he said, adding one operator now owns close to 3,000 vans.

Meanwhile, a source at the Department of Land Transport said Monday that the department has proposed new regulations aimed at curbing road accidents to the National Council for Peace and Order.

The proposals deal mainly with stricter punishments for those violating traffic regulations, said the source.

The punishment for driving without a licence, for instance, would be raised from a maximum one month's jail sentence to a maximum three months' imprisonment, said the source.

Under the regulations, private operators of public transport services could face a range of tougher penalties such as the suspension of a driver's licence for violating traffic regulations, or licence revocation in case of repeated misconduct, said the source.

Car drivers in general will also face tougher punishment including driving licence revocation if they are found guilty in traffic violation cases such as running a red light causing death, or drink-driving resulting in deaths, said the source.