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New Straits Times
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Stop treating road fatalities as isolated cases, says Wee [WATCH]
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has called on the government to stop treating road fatalities as isolated incidents and instead hold transport companies accountable for preventable crashes. This, he said, includes following through with the implementation of mandatory GPS tracking and corporate liability enforcement. Wee said many fatal accidents stem from systemic practices, such as pressuring drivers to speed or exceed legal working hours. "Discipline starts from the top. You must punish the company, not just the driver. "If you force drivers to speed or make extra trips, then these are the consequences," he said. He noted that the mandatory GPS tracking for commercial vehicles had been delayed due to industry resistance and was later derailed during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Some companies appealed in the early stages. Then Covid-19 came, and everything stopped — mostly due to the cost of bouncing back from the pandemic. "But we cannot keep delaying. If this is a real threat, then we must act to save lives." Wee also urged authorities to fully enforce corporate liability laws to crack down on companies that incentivise dangerous driving habits in pursuit of profit. "Other countries already do this. If a company pushes a driver beyond limits and something happens, they are held liable." He pointed out that in countries like the United Kingdom, drivers often refuse to exceed legal driving hours — not out of fear, but because corporate policy enforces safety. Blaming drivers alone for deadly road crashes, he said, is a short-sighted approach that ignores systemic failures in regulation and enforcement. He added that a "whole-of-nation" strategy is needed — including better inter-agency coordination, long-term staffing at transport authorities, and a renewed commitment to the proven "3E" model —engineering, enforcement, and education. "You cannot just pick one, like speeding, and ignore the rest. Speed contributes to fatalities. "But what about the roads? What about driver education? What about how we enforce the rules?" he said. On whether the government should reinstate the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) or strengthen the existing Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), now under the Transport Ministry, Wee noted: "That is the government's prerogative." "What's important is having the proper structure — because as far as I know, it's still operating under a contractual setup. "When your future is uncertain, you don't attract committed professionals. That's the biggest issue." He said regular inter-agency meetings, such as those hosted by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), are essential, but follow-through has been lacking. "Miros calls for meetings, they give input. But do we act on it?" He said rebuilding a culture of road safety is not just about punishment. "It's about planning safer roads, educating drivers, and enforcing rules consistently. "That's how we change attitudes." Following two fatal heavy vehicle collisions in recent weeks, Transport Minister Anthony Loke yesterday (June 12) revealed that the bus operator involved in the crash that claimed 15 university students' lives failed all seven mandatory safety requirements under the Road Transport Department's Safety Audit and Inspection Report (JISA). The audit found the company had no appointed safety officer, failed to monitor driver speed via GPS, and did not enforce the eight-hour driving limit. Meanwhile, the ministry also published the preliminary report of a separate incident involving a fatal crash between a lorry and a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck, said the report, was overloaded by more than 70 per cent. The report said the excessive weight increased the vehicle's kinetic energy, heightening both the impact of the collision and the risk of severe injury.
New Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Reinstate SPAD-like powers to fix land transport failures
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must re-establish a centralised statutory body with the authority once held by the now-defunct Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to address deep-rooted failures in land transport governance, says transport policy expert Wan Agyl Wan Hassan. Following recent fatal crashes in Gerik and Teluk Intan, Perak, Wan Agyl who previously served as SPAD Operation Group, Head of Policy and Planning, said that despite its imperfections, SPAD was the only agency with a comprehensive mandate over land transport, covering licensing, planning, enforcement, and reform. That clarity of mandate, he said, had been lost since SPAD was dissolved. "What we are seeing in the wake of these tragic crashes is not merely an enforcement failure — it is a governance vacuum. "Malaysia urgently needs a central authority akin to SPAD, empowered to plan, regulate, enforce, and reform the entire land transport system. "At present, responsibilities are scattered across multiple agencies with overlapping but uncoordinated mandates. That is why serious safety lapses continue to fall through the cracks." Wan Agyl said it was unacceptable that operators with hundreds of outstanding summonses were still permitted to operate, with enforcement only occurring after lives were lost. "It is time to return to a single, empowered and accountable authority that can drive long-term transport policy, not just react to crises," he said. SPAD was dissolved in 2018, with its functions absorbed into the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), which now operates under the Transport Ministry. Wan Agyl, who is also the founder of the transport think tank MY Mobility Vision, said the administrative restructuring had weakened Malaysia's capacity to manage complex, cross-agency transport issues. Unlike SPAD, which developed the National Land Public Transport Master Plan and coordinated closely with state governments, APAD no longer leads on long-term strategic planning, he said. "Key public safety reforms have stalled. For instance, the master plan has not been updated in over seven years. We still lack an integrated system to track operator safety performance — even after multiple fatal crashes involving repeat offenders." Acknowledging that SPAD had its shortcomings, he said its dismantling resulted in a loss of institutional continuity and accountability. "What we need is not the return of SPAD in name, but a revival of its core function — a professional, independent, data-driven authority with the legal powers to prevent tragedies, not just respond to them." He added that it should not take another fatal incident to highlight the need for centralised, transparent, and technically capable leadership in transport governance. "Parliament must act with urgency. This new body should retain the planning and policy responsibilities previously held by SPAD, but be strengthened with internal oversight, digital monitoring tools, and clearly defined coordination with the ministry, JPJ, and state authorities.
New Straits Times
11-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Expert: Inaction, weak enforcement to blame for unresolved bus safety issues
There is no need for the government to reinvent the wheel to ensure better bus safety, an expert said, pointing out that decade-old plans introduced after past crashes were not properly implemented. Wan Agyl Wan Hassan, founder of transport think tank MY Mobility Vision, said the Road Transport Department (RTD) and the now-defunct Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) had developed multiple plans and initiatives to tackle bus safety issues. "The problem is that, for the most part, they remain plans, largely due to a failure to implement or enforce the rules." He cited SPAD's 2015 mandate for public service buses to be equipped with GPS tracking systems, allowing real-time monitoring by bus companies. A failure to comply would breach licensing conditions. "If this has been implemented and enforced, why do drivers seem unafraid of speeding?" he told the New Straits Times. Wan Agyl also called into question RTD's Kejara demerit system. "When you have a demerit system, a driver should be suspended after several infractions or whatever threshold is set by the authorities," he said. "In the case of the Gerik bus crash, the driver had 18 summonses, 13 of which were for speeding." He said one of the root problems in enforcing rules was that authorities were "working in silos" and there was a lack of transparency. "Every time there is a major crash, we read in the news that the driver had outstanding summonses, but what was done with that information before the crash?" he asked. "The RTD, police and Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) should have access to the number of summonses a driver and a bus company receive from each agency. "This should be marked in the Kejara system immediately. Right now, the demerit is recorded after a summons is paid. This is wrong." He said summonses should be recorded when issued and once a driver or company accumulated a certain number of demerits, their licences should be suspended. "In the interest of safety, these summonses should be visible to the public, so they can check and make the right choice when selecting a bus service." Wan Agyl, a former SPAD group operations head of policy and planning, said as far back as 2013, the agency had proposed introducing a driver information system, which would allow users to check a driver's record. "We can implement that now with QR codes. For example, put a bus driver's information on the bus, then people can scan the QR code to find out if he has any summonses," he said. "If there is improved transparency, drivers would be more careful and companies would select their drivers more carefully. "We just need the political will to execute what has already been studied, debated and agreed upon."
New Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Enforcement measures introduced under now defunct SPAD still in place, says Loke
KUALA LUMPUR: Global Positioning System (GPS)-based monitoring for speeding and other enforcement measures introduced under the now-defunct Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) are still in place, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke. He said there was a misconception that such enforcement had ceased following SPAD's dissolution. "Although SPAD no longer exists, the enforcement of laws and regulatory systems introduced during its time continues under the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) and the Road Transport Department (RTD)," he said at a press conference today. Loke said it was merely a change of agency, not a lapse in enforcement. "What was developed during SPAD's time is still being implemented and enforced. "The system is still in place. It is just handled by different agencies now," he added.
New Straits Times
10-06-2025
- New Straits Times
SOP to address speeding in buses already in place since 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite a circular issued nearly a decade ago mandating strict measures against speeding by express and chartered buses, deadly crashes continue to plague Malaysian roads. The latest incident in Gerik, involving a chartered bus, tragically claimed the lives of 15 students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). The accident has sparked public outrage and renewed scrutiny over the enforcement and compliance with safety protocols, one of which is a 2015 circular issued by the now-defunct Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD). SPAD was decommissioned in 2018 and taken over by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad). On Feb 27, 2015, SPAD, under the leadership of then chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamad Kamal, issued a circular (effective April 27, 205) requiring all licensed express, charter, and tour bus operators to take immediate action upon receiving complaints of speeding. Among the key mandates was that all public service buses must be equipped with GPS tracking systems and operators are responsible for continuous real-time monitoring of their vehicles. "If a vehicle is found speeding, whether through passenger complaints, public reports, or GPS detection, operators must immediately contact the driver to reduce speed. "Operators must then report actions taken to both the complainant and SPAD, and submit GPS records and incident logs to the regulator within 24 hours," the circular reads. Failure to adhere to these requirements would constitute a breach of licensing conditions. The 2015 circular also required operators to submit and update key contact information — including complaint hotlines, management contacts, and email/fax details — within five working days of any changes. The tragedy has reignited calls for better oversight and for better enforcement of safety regulations. Police said the investigation into the bus crash is still in its early stages, and urged the public to allow the investigation to run its course.
