Justice Michael Lunn To Head Bus Crash Probe

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, has named Justice Michael Lunn as the chairman of a three-member independent review committee that will look into recent fatal bus crashes in the city, including the one in Tai Po that killed 19 people last month.

Justice Lunn is currently the vice president of the Court of Appeal who also chaired an independent review committee that investigated the Lamma Ferry Disaster in 2012, which left 39 people dead.

The two other members in the committee include Rex Auyeung, the chairman of the Lingnan University Council, as well as Professor Lo Hong-kam, the department head and chair professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Science and Technology.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Carrie Lam said the committee will be responsible for reviewing the operation of existing franchised bus companies and looking at the government's current regulatory regime. It will also come up with recommendations to boost bus safety.

The panel will also look into recent serious bus accidents.

“The purpose and objective of this independent review committee is to ensure the safety and reliability of Hong Kong’s franchised bus service because Hong Kong’s franchised bus service plays a very important role in Hong Kong’s public transport service, which is responsible for four million passenger trips every day”, she said.

Lam said the committee is expected to submit its investigation report to the government within nine months.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting called on members of the committee to meet with bus drivers to better understand their working conditions and the impact that might have on road safety.