PETALING JAYA: Road safety can be enhanced by strictly enforcing traffic rules, such as those limiting heavy vehicles to speeds below 90kph, according to an academician.
Prof Rozmi Ismail, a driver behaviour expert, pointed out that “it all comes down to implementation”.
He said there already were adequate legislation to regulate traffic to ensure safety but some motorists were not obeying the law.
“There is a sticker at the rear of each heavy vehicle that specifies the maximum speed the vehicle is allowed to travel but people just do not abide by it,“ he said. He was commenting on the recent accident involving a factory bus that saw 12 persons killed.
The bus was ferrying 43 workers to work at MAS Kargo when it plunged into a storm drain near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday night.
“Whenever there is a road accident, there will be proposals (on how to improve road safety). However, the focus should be on ensuring that bus companies obey existing laws,“ he said.
For instance, he said, the Japanese had a different safety culture. “Their bus and taxi drivers see themselves as ‘pilots’. They wear clean uniforms and if required to stop at two-hour intervals, they would do so. This builds confidence among passengers,“ he added.
National Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the Road Traffic Safety Management System should be adopted to reduce serious injuries and deaths resulting from road accidents.
He noted that the “bas pekerja” or buses used to ferry workers were usually on the last leg of their life cycle, having earlier been used as express or tour buses. “They are not being monitored closely by the authorities,“ he claimed.
Lee said ferrying workers in the wee hours was unavoidable because there were services such as airports, hospitals and factories that operated round the clock.
“Employers must therefore give priority to the safety of their workers,“ he added.
He pointed out that an average of two workers were killed while commuting to and from work every day.
According to Social Security Organisation statistics there were 35,195 commuting accidents in 2018, equivalent to 48% of the total 72,631 occupational safety and health-related accidents reported last year.
“Employers should invite road safety experts to share their knowledge and demonstrate defensive driving techniques that could help bus drivers and workers to avoid accidents. They can also educate workers and drivers on relevant laws and how to maintain their vehicles so that they are always in a road-worthy condition,“ he added.
