“Suspending the operating licence of the bus operator company without solid findings of actual fault may not be a clever move,” warns the Malaysia Consumers Movement (MCM).
“It may bring on unintended hardship on the operator and all those associated will suffer. Holistic solutions are required,” said MCM president Darshan Singh Dhillon in a statement issued today.
He was referring to the move by Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) yesterday to suspend Goldstar Express (M) Sdn Bhd’s licence following a crash of one of its buses near Muar yesterday morning. Fourteen people were killed and 16 injured.
Goldstar Express will not be allowed to operate its entire fleet, pending multi-agency investigations into the accident, the commission said in a statement.
Darshan said that currently there was a need for stronger political will to ensure real changes are in place to avoid such incidents in the future.
MCM offered a list of several recommendations. First, that a registry of permitted commercial vehicle drivers be set up.
“All records of commercial vehicle drivers including criminal and traffic offences, health condition and fitness levels should be regularly updated and tracked and a threshold should be set which, if violated, would warrant the rejection, suspension or termination of one’s driving permit.”
MCM also called for the authorities to require operators to conduct thorough due diligence on drivers before hiring them.
“A mechanism is required for enabling access to the registry of permitted drivers among hiring companies so the review exercise could be executed efficiently and effectively.”
MCM said businesses must also prioritise driver welfare. Darshan said that often drivers were being lured by the chance to earn more money by pushing themselves over they own limits, risking passenger safety.
Darshan said drivers should not be permitted to drive more than four hours without a break.
“A change of driver is strongly advisable after every six hours of driving. GPS devices could be installed to assist in monitoring activities, with direct notifications to operators.”
MCM advised authorities to put measures in place to ensure drivers were following regulations.
“Make it mandatory and enforce requirements for the use of seat belts in heavy commercial vehicles, especially buses and install automatic speed breakers to effectively overcome the issue of speeding among heavy commercial vehicles.”
MCM said it was also important that passengers be given a platform to voice out complaints about the driver and the company.
“Make available a government-commissioned independently managed and easily accessible communication mechanism for passengers to lodge complaints and provide feedback on their journey experience.
“Issues must be analysed in a timely manner and findings must be shared with the originator of complaint as well as the operator.”
MCM also recommended tax incentives and other relief to make safety more cost-efficient for operators.
“This includes replacement of components like tyres, installation of GPS systems and other safety apparatus.”
MCM said healthy competition among operators and moving away from price controls would also effectively weed out any errant operators.
Darshan said consumers should also assume responsibility by reporting cases using numerous channels at their disposal, including social media.
“More often than not, most choose to remain silent despite witnessing serious offences. Our own small action could save someone’s life.”
MCM expressed its condolences to the family members of those who died in the Pagoh 14 bus crash yesterday.