You often hear the calls for stricter penalties to be imposed on lorry drivers or transport companies found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of their vehicles, most notably after a spate of incidents, but these are usually from safety experts, academics and authorities. Given all that has been happening on the roads of late, here’s that usual commentary again, but this time coming from a lorry operators association.
As the New Straits Times reports, the call to address the matter has been made by the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Lorry Operators Association (SKLLOA), with its secretary-general Alvin Choong saying that stricter action could address the ongoing issues that continue to tarnish the industry’s reputation. This includes enforcement on offences related to overloading that lead to accidents.
“What is truly important is the enforcement of strict and severe penalties against irresponsible lorry drivers and operators. Innocent lives are lost due to negligence and greed, as they overload their lorries. This is one of the main causes of brake system failure, tyre issues and mechanical damage,” he told Buletin TV3.
Choong said that there were lorry operators who deliberately ignore the standard operating procedures (SOP) and intentionally overload their vehicles. As such, he said, stricter enforcement measures are necessary to ensure the safety of other road users.
“Some lorry operators are forced to overload due to intense competition. According to the Road Transport Act 1987, if a lorry is overloaded, it should not be allowed to continue its journey. Instead, the excess load must be transferred to another lorry,” he stated.
“If this is enforced, lorries will no longer carry excessive loads and create problems for other road users. However, this is not being done, even though the SOP and regulations have been in place since the Road Transport Act was introduced in 1987,” he added.
His statement comes following the multiple vehicle crash that occurred on the North-South expressway near Alor Gajah on December 23, which resulted in the loss of seven lives and injury to 33 others. The accident was caused by a tyre that had detached from a lorry trailer that a tour bus then collided with, causing the chain of events that led to the tragedy.
Following transport minister Anthony Loke’s probe order made on Christmas Eve, the road transport department (JPJ) is investigating and auditing the vehicle companies involved in the incident. The police have also recorded the statement of the lorry driver to help determine if there were elements of negligence that resulted in one of the lorry’s tyres being dislodged.
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Association acting innocent and pretending to be angels. Those errant operators not your members? Fines and revocating licenses won’t scare them. They’ll just register another company under proxies. An eye for an eye – if lives are lost lorry owner should be hanged, if victim is disabled lorry owner should have his limbs chopped.
We are sick and tired with excuses after excuses. PMX better reshuffle Anthony Loke to ministry of women, family and community development. Don’t let him sell number plates or muck around with HSR, ECRL and WCE anymore
Yes agree . Good for him too . I believe he as well as others can’t change the work cultures that had been super strongly rooted there .
More talk…
I propose electronically limiting lorries and buses to a maximum speed of 100 km/h. If these heavy vehicles maintain 100 km/h for more than 1 minute, the system will automatically reduce their speed to 70 km/h for the next 5 minutes. This measure can help deter speeding among heavy vehicles, which is a common issue on our roads.
Additionally, we could equip lorries with strobe lights that activate and flash whenever they exceed 90 km/h. This would make it easier for enforcement officers to identify speeding vehicles.
Finally, imposing hefty fines on vehicle owners who fail to comply with current laws would encourage adherence. In Malaysia, the problem isn’t the lack of laws but rather weak enforcement.
Good ideas.
Modern trucks are already equipped with speed limiters (yes, some clever people can override). Instead of blinking lights (Singapore did that in the 2000s), we can use telematics, automate that whole system.
And yes, stop the discounts on summons.
Thanks.
The problem with Malaysia is lack of enforcement. Those lori hantu get caught will only get a slap on the wrist if got strong Kabel.
Everyone is pointing fingers and blaming everyone. Who has actually taken responsibility? Where is the governing body that is responsible for the vehicles on the road? The Gov dept should be sued for this kind of mishap. When the cronism stops, everything gets better. This is a decades-old problem.