Transport think tank MY Mobility Vision founder Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said Australia’s implementation of CoR laws has “drastically improved accountability across the logistics sector”.

“Implementing a CoR framework, as successfully done in Australia, could hold every stakeholder in the logistics chain accountable, ensuring shared responsibility for safety,” he told FMT.

According to Australia’s National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, the CoR is the part of a national law that makes parties other than drivers responsible for the safety of heavy vehicles on the road.

Its website explains that everyone who works with heavy vehicles “from the business that employs a driver or owns a vehicle, to the business that sends or receives goods is accountable for the safety of the heavy vehicle, its driver, and its load throughout the journey”.

The penalties that can be imposed for a CoR party that contravenes the primary duty or obligation to ensure the safety of transport activities can be up to A$300,000 (RM867,728) and five years’ imprisonment for individuals, and up to A$3 million for corporations.

Wan Agyl’s comments follow an incident in Kluang, Johor, on Nov 15 in which a man was killed and two others injured in a three-vehicle crash involving a container lorry.

Malaysians on social media were also gripped by the harrowing story of a 21-year-old woman in Penang who died on her way to work on Nov 13 when a container fell from a trailer lorry crushing her car.

Wan Agyl pointed out that in the first three months of 2024 alone, 287 people were killed and 95 severely injured in accidents involving heavy vehicles, citing numbers quoted by deputy transport minister Hasbi Habibollah in Parliament in June.

“Beyond the devastating human toll, the financial burden is equally shocking, with road accidents costing the nation RM25 billion in economic losses last year alone,” he said.

Wan Agyl also repeated calls for the reinstitution of a centralised transportation agency, after the dissolution of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) in 2018.

He said SPAD’s dissolution “fragmented” the responsibility for enforcement and policymaking in transport.

“This lack of cohesion has led to inconsistent regulation and oversight, with many initiatives to manage heavy vehicle operations scattered and less impactful.

“We need a single agency that can bring accountability and leadership to these issues. Without this, the crisis on Malaysia’s roads continues unabated,” he said.