According to the Star, the motorcyclist was killed after a lorry’s rear right tyre exploded and a piece struck the motorcyclist riding behind.
The case is being investigated as reckless driving under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Brotherhood head Azlan Sani Zawawi (Lando) said police should be investigating the lorry company and not the driver, adding that drivers had no authority when it came to deciding on their tyres.
“The companies are the ones which look for bargain tyres, which means they’re risking our lives as road users and that includes their own lorry drivers,” he told FMT.
He said as long as these companies created a demand for unapproved tyres, then there will be a supply.
“It’s always about supply and demand. We need to stop this in order to stop more freak accidents like this occurring in the future.”
Lando said it was possible the tyre in the accident could have been a retreaded tyre but only further investigations would reveal the truth.
He said when it came to retreaded tyres, there were many types and not all of them were legal.
“There are retreaded expired tyres, retreaded snow tyres imported from overseas and illegally retreaded tyres from ‘belakang kilang’ (backlane ‘factories’) that don’t follow standard operating procedures. There are even stapler tyres which are retreaded tyres that use staples to bind them.”
He was sceptical about whether investigators could find out the cause for the tyre exploding, adding that this made it all the more pertinent to avoid such incidents from occurring in future.
“Until they investigate the evidence thoroughly, it’s just a guessing game but then again, how do we investigate tyres that have already burst?
“Do we have the expertise or technology to do that? I doubt that. That’s why we need real enforcement to check these malpractices.”
He also renewed his call for the Road Safety Department to have safety campaigns for lorry and freight forwarding companies.
“I’ve been warning them that this kind of things could happen since 2014 and the authorities are still far behind on this issue.
“So many lives could have been saved if the authorities just opened their eyes and took some real steps.”
In August last year, Lando claimed that a Road Transport Department official had informed him of workshops that rented out good tyres to enable vehicles to pass Puspakom inspections.
“Transport companies use these safe tyres for the routine six-month inspections,” he said.
“After passing the inspection, they return these tyres to the workshops and then use their old retreaded tyres.”