The recent bus accident that tragically killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students and injured 33 continues to be 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.
In accordance with transport minister Anthony Loke, it’s currently compulsory for all buses built from 2020 onwards to have seat belts for all passengers, however the bus that crashed on the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik was in-built 2013 and didn’t have seat belts.
“Even though it is mandatory for brand new buses to have seat belts, the challenge is to make sure compliance for passengers to wear seat belts, so we have now to make compliance mandatory for passengers. In a automobile, should you don’t wear a seat belt, it is going to emit a warning sound, so we are able to make it mandatory for bus drivers to be certain that all passengers wear their seat belts or the bus is not going to move,” he said.
“We see that among the many causes of (accidents) that usually occur on this particular road are heavy vehicles, including lorries, buses and so forth. They drive too fast, so there’s now technology, namely speed limiters, devices installed in vehicles to forestall them from exceeding the speed limit.
“Nonetheless, the challenge we face is that almost all of them are tampered (with), meaning (they’re modified) during installation for inspection at Puspakom but then they remove them afterwards, we wish to make sure there isn’t a tampering of the speed limiters,” he added.
Loke also said that the ministry will look into the potential of installing on-board video cameras on heavy vehicles to enhance safety, even though it is just not yet mandatory.
The Malay Mail cited Loke as saying that latest regulations often face resistance from industry players who cite rising costs: “We don’t want that once we make something mandatory, the operators complain that they’re affected, that the brand new measures are a burden and incur additional costs,” he said, adding that safety measures will not be meant to burden but to save lots of lives.
“So, for instance, the wearing of seat belts in latest buses is already mandatory but there was lack of compliance by the operators and passengers,” the English-language each day quoted Loke as saying.
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This Article First Appeared At paultan.org
