Following a crash involving a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck that claimed the lives of nine FRU personnel, deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that such incidents could have been avoided if vehicle had undergone proper inspection at Puspakom, New Straits Times reported.
“Initial reports indicated there was a technical problem involving the lorry carrying a load of sand, which lost control due to a malfunctioning steering system. Therefore, we should not place the blame solely on the lorry driver, but also hold the owner of the lorry company accountable. In this situation, strict inspections must be carried out, as well as urine tests and checks for alcohol use,” he said.
The incident involved the FRU truck and a lorry carrying sand, when the latter collided into the FRU truck along Jalan Chikus-Sungai Lampam in Teluk Intan, Perak on Tuesday, May 13.
The driver of the sand lorry has been detained the police, and has since been found to have six prior offences. This incident is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless driving causing death. Meanwhile, Puspakom is prepared to cooperate with the authorities with regard to the incident, it said in a statement.
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All trucks are done puspakom yearly, how does Mr DNAA PM know it wasn’t properly inspected? Did he check the record?
Hello…the lorry is carrying quarry products…not river sand.
Yours humbly worked in the quarry industry for 2 decades.
The overloaded lorry with quarry stones easily weigh 35 to 38 tons….equivalent to 30 Proton Sagas.
So a head on collision…only a kereta kebal stand a chance.The high casualty rate ..whether due to steering wheel,brake failure..is mainly due to OVERLOADING.
A sensible way is to have enforcement at the quarries…not elsewhere .
The drivers usually “dictate” how high the “unta load” he wants, by paying a small bribe to the loader.
And then we have MARKED lorries with stickers who r untouchable by corrupt JPJ officers due to “prekaotim”.
So,this type of tragedy will repeat anytime,anywhere unless u drive a battletank to stand a chance.
For 2 decades since I left the quarry industry,these accidents are the norm now.
DPM Zahid..pls station enforcers at quarry exit…the unta loads will disappear overnight.The lorry owners r in the dark once the unta load leaves the quarry.
I am not trying to be political here. But please, Mr DPM. “All” heavy vehicles “must go through” Puspakom. The issue here is Regulation, Enforcement, Road Design/Safety, and Operator/Driver Mentality.
Regulation – why are we transporting people in trucks, with no proper seats, seat belts and other safety apparatus? Why do we allow imported used heavy vehicles; effectively putting very old, worn out vehicles with little safety features on our roads?
Enforcement – if these vehicles are so badly maintained, why aren’t they stopped on the road by polis / JPJ? Where are the weighing stations? (No need fancy “remote” types, just make all heavy vehicles go through at fixed points). And surely EVERYONE has seen speeding lori pasir/ tipper trucks driven in anger; why aren’t they stopped? Enough excuses!
Road safety / design – why are our roads so badly designed / maintained? Have you seen the dire conditions of our roads – potholes, no lines, inconsistent road widths? We have narrow roads with 90kmh speed limits; and roads with 1.5 lanes width in front of schools and motorists are expected to drive at 30kmh because a small little sign says so? Where are the “road calming” measures and designs?
Operator / driver mentality – Not only heavy vehicles. Everything from buses, pick up trucks, big/small cars and motorbikes. Driven/ridden with an obviously air of snobbishness and contempt “I’m superior, I don’t need to follow rules. You apa tengok?! Apa hon-hon?!”
Feel free to agree or disagree with me. But in the end, lives are needlessly lost. There will be a big hoo-haas here because of the fact we lost real heroes in this tragedy. And as the above 4 pillars are anyway not addressed, this will sadly not be the last.
Puspakom hv failed us for a decade.. now we see the effect of this failure. No amount of law or regulations can prevent this accident if puspakom continue to fail us and lorry owner attitude towards vehicles maintenance
puspakom juga yang bersalah
PUSPAKOM cek lori sekali setiap 6 bulan, mana boleh gerenti kenderaan tak akan rosak sehingga 6 bulan akan datang. Engineer automotive pun tak boleh gerenti.
Kenapa ramai sangat netizen bebal ya? Netizen ingat PUSPAKOM ni kerja dia tahan lori tepi jalan, buat spot cek? PUSPAKOM bukan pihak berkuasa, dia tak ada power. Patutnya netizen bebal ni yg patut duduk dalam lori FRU yg accident tu.
Again, talk cock sing song.