The recent bus accident that tragically killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students and injured 33 is still weighing heavily on the nation’s minds, and besides speed limiters, the transport ministry is looking into making on-board video cameras and seat belt buzzers mandatory for buses as well, Bernama reports.
According to transport minister Anthony Loke, it is currently compulsory for all buses built from 2020 onwards to have seat belts for all passengers, but the bus that crashed on the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik was built in 2013 and did not have seat belts.
“Although it is mandatory for new buses to have seat belts, the challenge is to ensure compliance for passengers to wear seat belts, so we have to make compliance mandatory for passengers. In a car, if you do not wear a seat belt, it will emit a warning sound, so we can make it mandatory for bus drivers to ensure that all passengers wear their seat belts or the bus will not move,” he said.
“We see that among the causes of (accidents) that often occur on this particular road are heavy vehicles, including lorries, buses and so on. They drive too fast, so there is now technology, namely speed limiters, devices installed in vehicles to prevent them from exceeding the speed limit.
“However, the challenge we face is that most of them are tampered (with), meaning (they are modified) during installation for inspection at Puspakom but then they remove them afterwards, we want to ensure there is no tampering of the speed limiters,” he added.
Loke also said that the ministry will look into the possibility of installing on-board video cameras on heavy vehicles to improve safety, although it is not yet mandatory.
The Malay Mail cited Loke as saying that new regulations often face resistance from industry players who cite rising costs: “We don’t want that when we make something mandatory, the operators complain that they are affected, that the new measures are a burden and incur additional costs,” he said, adding that safety measures are not meant to burden but to save lives.
“So, for example, the wearing of seat belts in new buses is already mandatory but there was lack of compliance by the operators and passengers,” the English-language daily quoted Loke as saying.
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