Commercial Vehicle Safety

Evening peeps, it’s another month with another article. My article today is about accidents on road. This time I would like to share my thoughts on the two recent accidents early November 2011, that involved buses. Many of us are aware that the word “accident” can be defined as an unplanned event that interrupts the completion of an activity, and that may (or may not) include injury or property damage.

However, it was sad to note that the above two bus accidents loss of innocent passengers. It was more frustrating and disturbing when it was known that both the drivers of the bus were speeding during the time of accident. In one of the accidents the roof of the bus was ripped off.

In Malaysia, there is a lot of dependence on public transportation especially express buses. The express buses play an important role in moving people from one destination to another. Express buses are in total demand especially during festive seasons, so much so additional permits have been issued in the past to normal buses to accommodate the demand.

However, time and again a tragic accident happens, the relevant authorities will come up with some plans and actions. If you notice it is the same story. The express bus companies must ensure that :

a) There is a back up driver for every long distance trip

b) The mental state of the driver(s) is important. The company must ensure that the driver have sufficient rest before taking on the next trip

c) Must ensure that the bus is sent for inspection/service regularly. The brakes and condition of the tyres is also equally important.

d) Drivers undergo training on safe driving and refresher courses.

It was highlighted that the objective of the Safety, Health and Environment Code of Practice 2007 to basically address the above problems. It was also mentioned here that all commercial vehicle drivers must be retrained on safety aspects and installed with GPS. The idea was with the installation of the GPS, the company and authorities can be able to track the vehicle if it has gone off route.

The objective of the Safety Code of Practice 2007 was very good but due again the relevant authorities failed to fully implement the Code of Practice. Again, in the year 2007, a study was conducted on the reason of fatalities involving express buses. It was concluded that apart from speeding our express buses were not constructed to comply with minimum safety standards. The roof construction and seats are not properly done. It is understood that sometimes, the bus companies compromise on the quality of material to safe costs at the expense of the innocent passengers.

The relevant authorities have not made it mandatory for wearing of seat belts in express buses though there were proposals to do so. This would probably explain why the passengers in the express bus accident recently were thrown out and the roof of the bus was ripped off. The recent re- registration exercise by the Land, Public Transport Commission exposed the existence of thousands of illegal commercial vehicles that had not undergone routine roadworthiness inspections. Many of these vehicles will help to further escalate the road accident statistics in future.

I was rather sad when it was mentioned in the papers recently, our fatality index have not improved compared to Britain which achieved 2.3. Our authorities must seriously look into the problem objectively for the benefit of Malaysians at large.

That’s all from me, Till next time

Roger n out