Death should not be the price of doing business

THE shocking news a few days ago grabbed us by the heart: A lorry collided with a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck carrying police officers in Perak, killing nine. Nine others were injured; six remain hospitalised at press time.

The news sparked mourning and anger, and raised a familiar question: Why do incidents like this keep happening on our roads?

Heavy vehicles, including trailers, lorries and commercial trucks, pose a significant danger on Malaysia’s roads.

Heavy vehicles comprised 10% of highway traffic in 2023 but caused fatalities in more than 30% of all highway accidents.

Police statistics show that lorries caused 825 fatal accidents in the first 10 months of 2024.

This works out to three fatal crashes almost every day.

The reasons are not mysterious.

Many commercial trucks are chronically overloaded. Tyres are often bald, substandard and retreaded. Some vehicles operate with faulty brakes or broken lights.

The practice of replacing compliant tyres that have passed inspections with unsafe ones has been documented in trucking companies.

These are not lapses. They are calculated risks, driven by the pressure to meet deadlines, cut costs and squeeze profit margins.

Drivers are not always to blame.

There is systemic negligence at play. Companies demand more runs with less downtime.

Enforcement on the roads is also inconsistent. Penalties for violations, whether overloading, dangerous driving, or maintenance failures, are not a deterrent.

The Kejara demerit point system has done little to suppress these trends, especially when the odds of getting caught remain low.

The system automatically tracks offences, warns drivers when they hit 20 points, and suspends their licence between six and 12 months if they keep breaking the rules.

However, the system has been criticised for not working properly.

It’s often slow or not updated, and it doesn’t always reflect what’s happening on the roads.

Between January and Sep­tember 2024, over 38,000 traffic summonses were issued to commercial vehicles.

Yet the accidents persist and deaths continue.

The problem isn’t just about enforcement. It’s also about accountability among corporations, regulators and individuals.

Penalties must be raised. Fines should bite. Jail time should not be off the table in cases of gross negligence that result in death.

Random, unannounced inspections of commercial fleets need to become routine, not on an ad hoc basis.

Drivers must be trained, licensed and periodically evaluated, not just at the start of their driving careers.

They must also undergo retraining every few years and pass stricter health checks when obtaining the medical documents required to renew their Vocational Licence Certificate each year.

Transport companies and their owners must also be held responsible when their vehicles kill or maim due to poor maintenance or pressure-cooker work schedules that put untrained or overly tired drivers behind the wheel.

These are not radical suggestions. But they are overdue. The cost of inaction is being paid in blood by other road users.

We can no longer treat road fatalities as the price of doing business.

If we allow heavy vehicle operators to gamble with people’s lives, then we are complicit in every crash that follows.

The tragedy that took nine young lives should not fade into the next news cycle.

It should mark a turning point. Reckless drivers and negligent operators must face consequences that match the damage they cause.