The Upper House passed a revision to the road transportation law on Friday that allows the fine for safety violations involving chartered buses to be hiked 100-fold to ¥100 million ($875,000).
The revision follows a ski bus accident in Nagano Prefecture earlier this year that killed 13 passengers. With the new ski season under way, the government hopes to put the revision into effect by year's end.
The revision will mandate the establishment of a private entity to monitor and provide instructions on safety practices to companies that operate chartered buses. The entity is to be financed by the operators and report its findings to the government.