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Showing posts with label Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD). Show all posts

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Who to blame for the frequent accidents: the Transport Ministry, bus companies or drivers...?

Driving them to crazy!

PETALING JAYA: Express bus operators say they are being held to ransom by their own drivers, who are allegedly exploiting a driver shortage in the industry to escape punishment for dangerous driving.

An operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Star that one of his drivers sabotaged his bus after being reprimanded for speeding two weeks ago.

“We called him up and asked why he was driving very fast. He replied: ‘Hey, the steering is in my hands, I do what I like. You think I’m afraid (of you)?’

“Then he took the bus somewhere and poured sand into the engine,” said the operator.

He said although a police report was lodged, no action was taken against the driver, who quit for another company.

Relating another case, the operator said a driver who was ticked off for speeding, threatened to walk away and leave his passengers by the roadside.

The operator experienced a high turnover of bus speed monitors, saying they would quit when verbally abused by the drivers.

“We employ women (for this) because they’re more soft-spoken. But many resign after a month or two because the drivers used vulgar words when scolding them,” he said.

Another operator, who also declined to be named, said he also came across drivers who dictated terms to their employers.

“They don’t say it to my face but they have told my other drivers they don’t care if I take action against them,” he said, adding not all drivers were bad but the ones giving the industry a bad name could not be booted out because operators needed any driver they could get their hands on.

Suggestions by the industry to fill this shortage with foreign drivers, even temporarily, were rejected by the Government, he said.

He said increasing wages to woo better drivers was also difficult, saying bus fares had not gone up since 2009 despite a rise in operational costs.

Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association (PMBOA) president Datuk Ashfar Ali declined to comment on the issue of errant bus drivers.

He confirmed, however, the industry was experiencing a driver shortage, adding: “The Government has to ensure a constant supply of drivers into the market.

“All these safety measures cost money. We urge passengers to be prepared to pay higher fares.”

Ashfar said the authorities had to urgently implement the 51 recommendations of an independent advisory panel to prevent fatal bus accidents.

Contributed by Patrick Lee The Star/Asia News Netwrk

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Malaysian Transport authorities taken to task

PETALING JAYA: The authorities in charge of road transport were taken to task for failing to introduce any meaningful improvements to safety, in particular among express buses.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, expressed his disappointment with the authorities over their failure to implement the 51 recommendations of an indepen­dent advisory panel to prevent fatal accidents involving buses.

“If only some if not all of the re­­commendations had been implemented, we would not have to continue reading stories of fatal bus accidents in the papers,” he said when contacted by The Star yesterday.

Following the recent spate of deadly bus accidents in the past few years, Lee was made chair of the advisory panel set up to review and recommend improvements to this critical service.

He said it was sad if the efforts of the panel consisting of experts in various fields such as road and bus design, went to waste.

“Enough has been said about the issue with sufficient feedback and suggestions put forward,” he said.

Lee called on the authorities such as the Road Safety Department (JKJR), Puspakom, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and bus operators to begin implemen­ting the recommendations before the next accident occurs.

Federation of Malaysia Consumers Association (Fomca) secretary-ge­neral Datuk Paul Selvaraj said SPAD should review its function following its seeming inaction.

“SPAD has to be held accountable simply because they are the regulators of public transport in the country.>

“They should take important steps now even if it is going to be unpopular with bus operators because the fate of the consumers should be put first above all,” he said.

On Sunday, a double-decker ex­­press bus plunged down a slope along the Kuantan-Segamat trunk road causing the death of a passenger.

The bus was carrying about 40 people when it crashed near the Sungai Jernih plantation at around 4.40pm.

This was the third incident invol­ving an express bus in Pahang over the past eight days.>

An Etika Express bus crashed into a road divider on the East Coast Expressway and flipped over on Saturday, leaving most of its 28 passengers injured.

On April 12, a Transnasional double-decker bus hit an electric pole and overturned in Bentong, killing three passengers.

However, SPAD has warned that quick suspension of bus operators for infractions such as fatal bus ac­cidents may lead to passengers stranded at bus terminals.

“If I suspend operators, the people will not have any transportation. I think we’ll have to find a way, but we will see whether the suspension will work or not,” said SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.

Syed Hamid added that bus licen­ces and, in turn, their drivers come under the Public Service Vehicle ca­tegory, which were not managed by SPAD, but by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

He added that in principle, autho­rities such as JPJ and the police could conduct checks at all of the country’s bus terminals, though this would be a difficult thing to do in practice.

He also advised bus drivers who felt like they were being forced to work to report these instances to the Human Resources Ministry.

Sources: The Star/Asia News Network

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