Following a recent accident on the PLUS North South Highway involving seven vehicles – one trailer lorry and six cars – that claimed four lives, transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong is suggesting periodic and random drug tests for drivers of heavy vehicles to prevent driving under influence (DUI). This should go along with heavier penalties, he said.
“Cases of road accidents involving heavy vehicles such as trailers are on the rise. Such incidents also cost the lives of other road users. I feel sad about this and condolences to the family members,” he said in a Facebook post.
Wee said that with the cooperation of the police and the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK), screenings can be done periodically and randomly at various locations, including the offices of transport and logistics companies. He also instructed relevant agencies such as the JPJ, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Puspakom to thoroughly investigate accidents involving heavy vehicles. “Effective solutions need to be expedited,” he said.
The Ayer Hitam MP also called on transport companies to be fully responsible, especially when investigations point to their vehicles not being properly maintained or not complying with the rules.
“We do not want such irresponsible companies to get away with it and continue to be greedy and make a profit to the point of neglecting the safety of employees, who are their drivers, and those of other road users. Laws must be respected and fully adhered to. It is not something that can be taken lightly, especially when it involves human life,” he stressed.
It’s not uncommon to find heavy vehicle drivers involved in accidents testing positive for drugs, and perhaps Wee’s suggestion should be worked on – much focus has been put on drink driving, and rightly so, but drugs are a menace too. A bus ferries many passengers and a big truck can cause plenty of damage due to its size. We’ve looked at this topic in-depth before, discussing the regulations, maintenance requirements, enforcement and driver aspects of heavy vehicle accidents – read more here.
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wee ka siong fanclub…
Mantap Dr Wee, at last a Transport Minister doing his job unlike the previous useless incompetent nincompoop.
Aiyo wee ka siong use head more, there MUST be yearly ROADWORTHINESS test for all heavy vehicles. This will make sure all the bus and trucks and lorries have proper functioning brakes. Also better JPJ driving courses for everyone ffss. Enforce people not using turn signals
YB Menteri yg sedang memantau.
Stop the usual ” memantau”.It wont work,just lots of “talking” .
Just have regular unannounced besar besaran roadblocks nationwide to look out for 1.shady faulty brakes 2.dadah drivers.Dont rely on Puspakom twice a year checks.
Make these two a MUST report from your ketua bahagian JPJ.
If you delay,the next press conference will be ‘another bus with faulty brakes killed 30 tourists on way down from genting” or ” trailer killed 20 bas sekolah kanak kanak.” This is not science fiction.This will be malay Mail headlines.
Brader you also otak udang, in no other developed country people use roadblocks to check for brakes, what even how would they do that on a road. It just not sensible to have roadblocks all the time. Mandatory checks are the way to go and driver certification
In addition our police spastic and have the mental capacity to open only one lane during a roadblock.
Mandatory checks? sure? do u know why the runner is there?Someone said,runner allowed in ,while the dude is “checking”.
If twice yearly Puspakom is enough and strictly done without any hanky panky,then how come these lorries suddenly have ‘brake failure after a recent “puspakom check” ?
Why cant lorries be escorted to a safe place for ‘checking”?You can a mobile puspakom vehicle on standby.It boils down to whether our menteri is serious or merely “kami akan memantau”.
Someone said? Who said? I have done Puspakom on regular basis for me & my clients, never have I seen or am allowed into inspection area. Runners are there to book slots for inspection but not to tamper with the results, if the trucks fails we cannot do magic lah bruh.
Call yourself Albert Einstein but otak tin kosong. Gives shame to my name.
Macai PH still doing stupido stunts to uplike their own comments again. Real stupido.
If only all lorry in Malaysia have quality of those those petrol tanker.
Not just random drug test, but Puspakom really needs to step up in heavy vehicle inspection.
Although this is a good idea but still not enough la dei, mostly because of brake failure! The great idea is, inspect all heavy vehicles at all times!! Suspend/ban drivers who have exceeded certain amount of summons!! Less sleep in the office, less kautim equal more lives will be saved!! That one also need people teach ka? Don’t cover your enforcement agency did not do their work properly, you know how bad they are that’s why you only mentioned about drug test!! Rebuild, reform & refresh = saving more innocent lives. Sick of hearing innocent lives are lost because of this heavy vehicle who always have brake fail fiasco!!
The issue is much bigger than the driver or maintenance of the vehicles.
1. Corruption at various enforcement levels where those who bend or break the rules get away
2. Tidak Apa attitude and Tutup Sebelah Mata at various levels from drivers to management
3. The obsession of consumers with wanting things for Cheap.. cheap comes at a price of cost cutting in terms of supply chain, maintenance and also wages
Heard of the accident some time back where the driver of a BMW was found drunk driving collided onto sidewalk and injured a family of 3 sending them into ICU?
All witness at the scene can clearly see that the driver was heavily drunk.
Driver found to be intoxicated during breath test when police arrive at the scene.
3 hours or so later, urine test was done also tested positive for intoxication at the police station.
Somehow, the blood test was only done after another 6 hours or so in the hospital and the result came back negative for intoxication.
Police concluded the driver was not driving under influence of alcohol.
This is why Malaysia Boleh.
STUPIDS minister again… never analyze & understand the issue before talk. At the end, nothing done, next yr talk abt same thing again. Useless badass
Exactly, Idk why these ministers cannot think properly and analyze and research a solution. So stupid this wks
You dk coz your brain cannot comprehend their efforts you think their stupid but they operate at a higher level than your stupidity. This is why they are minister and you are just a troll
WKS is by far the only TM that cares about his job. What did the last one do? Oh wait, selling number plates only, deswai under his 22 months, accident & death rates shot up.
Should change law that if casulty cause by DUI the driver will face death sentence
Their lorry permits must be suspended immediately and company director must also be charged
Yes. The fault must be blames at the company & the owners. Because company want to save cost then skip regular maintenance. When accident happen, why blame the drivers when the vehicle itself is not safe to drive?
Agreed no point to blame WKS or the polis or JPJ, this all stems from the greed of these companies & owners. They should be the ones going to jail rather than the poor drivers.
Must do random periodic check ups on the Puspakom people , yeah please check the authority that monitor the trucks on the road