Many accidents involving express buses occurred during the last week’s festive break. Every time, I feel for the victims of accidents that could have been avoided if there was stringent maintenance protocol and improved enforcement by public transport regulators such as SPAD.
My staff was in the bus that rammed 10 cars on the north-south highway yesterday. Media reports say that there was a brake failure. A video of the bus appearing to be driven fast and ramming into vehicles in its path has gone viral. The reality of how serious the problem is with express bus services in Malaysia has hit home now that my staff was involved.
Victims can be the sole breadwinner of a family, or a mother or father with young kids who need their parents. How do we compensate for such losses and what do we say to families who experience the loss of a loved one or active and productive citizens of the Malaysian workforce?
Again, as the president of a consumer organisation and one which has been actively monitoring the quality of service of our public transport, I am truly and utterly disappointed with both the operators and regulators for their inaction in improving the safety of the very people they depend on for their own livelihoods and business sustainability.
Regulators such as SPAD must come down hard on poor service quality and weed out all errant bus operators through active surveillance and rapid response to complaints. SPAD should also employ the means of receiving complaints – if possible, in real time. Speed records should be captured the minute speed limits are breached.
We hope the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) standards for busses be widely enforced especially on anchorage, superstructure and seat belts for passengers. We need clear, transparent and efficient mechanisms to compensate passengers who suffer losses in terms of death, physical disabilities, loss of working time and delays accordingly.
Close to 2,000 people are killed daily around the world in road accidents. In Malaysia, death rates were 23.6/100,000 in 2015 – among the highest in Southeast Asia. According to the Minister of Transport, statistics showed that 6,706 lives were lost in about 489,600 road accidents in 2015. This is 32 deaths more than the figure recorded in 2014.
We need to put a stop to the unnecessary loss of lives and limbs with more responsible and accountable public transport operators and improved enforcement.
It is my sincere hope that the general public as consumers assert their rights to a safer and more accountable public transport system by choosing express bus operators with impeccable safety performance. Relevant government agencies should respect consumer rights to fair and transparent information to help consumers choose the right service providers.
