Road safety experts have suggested that the government introduce more stringent measures to bring to book errant bus and lorry companies, effectively making them liable for crashes that occur due to negligence.
The call to do so comes after a recent road transport department (JPJ) audit of 133 commercial vehicle operators for safety compliance revealed that 85 – or 64% – of the transportation companies that were audited failed to meet mandatory safety requirements.
The experts again floated the idea of introducing a corporate liability law to hold heavy vehicle companies accountable when mishaps occur, and said the list of rule breakers should be made public, the New Straits Times reports.
Despite having traffic laws that impose heavy fines on offenders, errant operators have not been perturbed, said Universiti Putra Malaysia associate professor Law Teik Hua, “A corporate liability law may be effective by making companies and their owners legally responsible for being reckless,” he said. This, he said, would hit them heavily in their pockets.
He said companies must be held responsible unless they could prove they did everything possible to prevent accidents involving their vehicles. If a company’s drivers were found to be negligent, top executives and directors should be held responsible, and be fined or charged with a crime. “This way, operators are more likely to follow the guidelines,” he said.
Law said that the sentences must be harsh enough to hurt companies in order to be a deterrent. This could include fines based on a company’s income, licence suspensions or revocations and blacklisting from doing business with the government, he explained.
Transportation expert Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said the findings from the JPJ audit was a clear warning sign. “If this is what is uncovered in a formal audit, how many more are slipping through the cracks?” he asked.
Besides also advocating for a corporate liability law, he said the government must begin using real-time data to monitor driver fatigue and speedsters. “Those who cut corners and put lives at risk should not be allowed to operate, let alone carry passengers or goods across the country,” he stated, adding that a public registry of errant operators should also be made available.
Meanwhile, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia road safety expert associate professor Ng Choy Peng urged the government to consider enforcing set working hours for bus and lorry drivers to ensure they were fit to drive.
“In Malaysia, the normal working hours for commercial vehicle drivers are 45 hours per week. The current regulations specify that driving hours should not exceed eight hours a day, with a minimum 30-minute rest period after every four hours of driving. The driving hours can be extended to 12 hours, provided that a mandatory rest day follows.” she said.
While these guidelines, established by JPJ, contribute to manageable working hours for drivers, Ng said companies need to be more mindful of the human factor involved in operating such vehicles. “I’ve seen some commercial vehicle drivers with short tempers. This, I believe, comes from driving long hours. Companies should provide them with sufficient break time,” she said.
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