Enforce the law, end the lip service

LAST Monday, 15 students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) died, and many others injured when the bus they were travelling in lost control and crashed into the railing of the East-West Highway near Gerik, Perak.

What was supposed to be a joyous journey home for Hari Raya Aidiladha became a national heartbreak.

But beyond the grief lies a damning truth: This was not simply a tragic accident. It was the consequence of a system that failed at every level to protect road users.

Malaysia’s road safety framework is plagued by regulatory deficiencies.

Let’s start with the Kejara (Demerit Points System for Traffic Offences; in Malay, Keselamatan Jalan Raya) system designed to penalise repeat traffic offenders.

Introduced under the broader Awas (Automated Awareness Safety System) regime in 2017, Kejara is meant to deter recklessness.

Yet, it has become a system in name only.

On Friday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke admitted publicly that Kejara has failed to suspend even the worst offenders.

How often have we learned after a crash that a driver who had multiple outstanding summonses, including for speeding, was still permitted to ferry passengers on interstate routes?

A demerit system that fails to suspend dangerous drivers is not a safeguard – it is an open invitation for disaster.

The failures do not stop there.

Every commercial driver is supposed to be licensed through the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) system, a process that includes medical checks, training and periodic renewals – but often parts of this process are merely rubber-stamped.

Adding to this chain of systemic negligence is the role of Puspakom, the government-appointed vehicle inspection company.

All commercial vehicles are required by law to undergo inspections every six months. This includes checks on critical safety systems such as brakes, tyres, suspension and lighting.

But if a vehicle that supposedly passed inspection could suffer a complete brake failure – as claimed by the bus driver – then either the inspection process is compromised or enforcement is laughably inadequate.

Is it corruption, complacency or incompetence?

Whatever the reason, the price has been paid in human lives.

We must also confront the infrastructural realities.

The East-West Highway remains a treacherous stretch of road – dark, steep and winding, with insufficient climbing lanes and safety barriers.

Complaints about poor lighting and a lack of emergency escape ramps are nothing new.

And yet, despite the high number of heavy vehicle crashes on this route, little has been done to redesign it to accommodate long-distance commercial traffic safely.

Enforcement, too, is patchy.

While speed trap cameras have been touted as a solution, technical issues and delayed implementation have hampered their impact.

What Malaysia needs now is not another government committee nor another whitewashed inquiry.

The pattern is familiar: tragedy, outrage, silence.

But 15 lives demand more than ritual condolences and symbolic site visits. This must be a moment of reckoning.

The Kejara system must be rebuilt to suspend drivers with serious traffic offences automatically.

PSV and Commercial Vehicles Licencing Board enforcement must be real, with unannounced audits and meaningful consequences.

Puspakom must be subject to external blind audits and commercial fleets must undergo random re-inspections.

Infrastructure investment cannot be deferred any longer.

Road upgrades, better signage and emergency measures must be prioritised.

Finally, we must shift the cultural attitude towards commercial vehicle safety.

Driving a bus or lorry is not just a job, it is a responsibility that carries lives.

Licences and permits are not entitlements; they are privileges that must be earned and retained only through demonstrated safety.

The victims of the Gerik crash were not failed by fate. They were failed by the very systems that were supposed to protect them.

If we cannot fix what’s broken now, we are condemning more lives to be lost tomorrow.

Accountability must follow grief. And change must follow death.