Lax enforcement on the highways

TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke is plausibly the most hands-on minister we have today. He is known for conducting random checks on the efficiency of services under his ministry.

Among the places he has spot checked so far are LRT and KTM stations, Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) and KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2).

But I wonder if he has ever done an undercover investigation on the enforcement of the law on our highways.

Perhaps he should personally drive along the North-South Expressway (NSE), say between Seremban, his constituency in Negri Sembilan, to Sungai Besi in Kuala Lumpur to find out why major crashes – usually involving heavy vehicles like trailers, container trucks and buses – happen here almost every month.

As a regular user of the NSE, I dare say he would be shocked (and maybe even terrified) by the speed at which most of these behemoths are driven.

Of course, signs stating the speed limits of 80kph on trunk roads and 90kph on highways are displayed prominently at the back of these vehicles, but who cares? The drivers of these monsters normally whiz past at between 100kph and 130kph. I have been frequently tailgated by them as I stick to the 110kph speed limit in the middle lane.

Let’s look at some recent road crashes involving these titans on tyres.

On April 5, two lorry attendants were killed when their vehicle crashed into the back of a trailer at KM307 southbound of the NSE, near Gopeng, Perak, at about 6am.

The two, Bangladeshi men aged 26 and 29, died on the spot. The 36-year-old Malaysian driver of the three-tonne lorry carrying a consignment of furniture suffered a broken arm while the 57-year-old driver of the trailer, which was transporting flour, was not injured.

On Feb 3, two trailer drivers were killed in a seven-vehicle pile-up at KM288 northbound of the NSE, also near Gopeng, that led to about eight hours of traffic congestion.

In the 7.35am incident, the driver of one trailer, which was transporting 25 metric tonnes of sugar, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash through the divider and ram into another trailer laden with cold-roll steel.

The other vehicles involved in the pile-up were another trailer, two multi-purpose vehicles and two cars.

On March 23, two Singaporean bikers were killed after a container truck hit their motorcycle convoy on a highway emergency lane at KM 111.4 of the NSE, near Yong Peng, Johor, at about 3am. Four others were seriously injured.

The high number of heavy vehicles involved in major road crashes is repeated yearly.

According to statistics revealed by Bukit Aman in 2022, 80% of road crashes involving heavy vehicles are caused by “negligence of the drivers”.

Shouldn’t the level of enforcement on commercial trucks, which usually carry large loads and travel at high speeds, be higher?

These bulky vehicles can weigh between 20 and 30 times more than the average car, increasing the chances of severe damage and injuries in any crash with smaller vehicles.

Trucks and buses accelerate slowly while going uphill but gain speed quickly when heading downhill. The simple law of physics states that the faster the big trucks go, the bigger the stopping differential time between them and the vehicle ahead.

According to the Malaysia Road Fatalities Index, an average of 18 people die in road crashes every day, constituting a serious public health challenge to the country. Last year, the Transport Ministry said Malaysia recorded one road crash every minute!

A study by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) also showed that these crashes were mostly caused by “human behaviour”.

On Sunday, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) disclosed that 16,142 cases of speeding were detected through the Automated Awareness Safety System cameras since the start of the Hari Raya special operations on April 1.

JPJ senior enforcement director Datuk Lokman Jamaan said 95% of the offenders drove between 130kph and 170kph and the rest exceeded speeds of 170kph.

Last year, Finn, a German car subscription company based in the United States, released a report on countries that were the safest and most dangerous to drive in.

The findings were then divided into four classes – the top three countries with the safest roads, top three with the most dangerous roads, nations where one is least likely to die on the road, and countries where one is most likely to die on the road.

Malaysia ranked fifth for countries with the most dangerous roads, and third for countries where one is most likely to die on the road.

It was estimated that we have 22.48 road deaths per 100,000 people while Thailand’s was 32.21. Saudi Arabia topped the list with 35.94 road deaths per 100,000 people.

To go back to the issue of speeding lorries and buses, what can be done to reduce the number of crashes?

For a start, there must be better enforcement, especially on the NSE. Instead of conducting special operations during festive seasons like what is being done now, consistent monitoring must be carried out to prevent crashes and needless deaths.

The installation of speed limiters could be a long-term solution. These devices can be set to a fixed or adjustable maximum speed.

This should be seen as vital for heavy vehicles like trucks and buses, which can cause significant damage to other vehicles and serious injuries to passengers during crashes.

Some established marques of heavy vehicles already come with built-in speed limiters. The devices can also be set up as after sale modifications.

Speed limiters have been widely discussed in the trucking and transportation industry for many years, but there has been no decision towards mandatory use.

Perhaps it is time to do so.

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this Finnish proverb: “An accident won’t arrive with a bell on its neck.”

The views expressed here are the writer’s own.