Express Bus Driver Deserve Better

Posted on 13 August 2012 - 06:56pm

Azman Ujang
OVER the next few days, express buses are set to roll out of cities and towns in huge numbers for the
Hari Raya "balik kampung" exodus.
Normally, tickets for these trips are sold out well in advance as thousands of people who work in the
urban centres join in the big rush back to their hometowns to celebrate the festive occasion.
Besides the established bus companies doing roaring business, there are also others who are given oneoff permits to use factory, tourist or even school buses to cope with the high volume of travellers.
Given the high number of express buses criss-crossing the country during the period, sufficient laws are
in place by the police, Road Transport Department and Road Safety Department to govern the industry.
And due to frequent fatal accidents involving express buses in the last five years, a new set of legislation
called the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Code of Practice has been added.
This has created greater awareness and concern among operators over passenger safety. There is also the
fear of having their permits suspended or revoked in cases where bus accidents result in many deaths.
As far as enforcement is concerned, there seems to be an upsurge during the Ops Sikap safety campaign
which runs a week before and a week after the festive season. This year, Ops Sikap has been renamed
Ops Selamat.
But for the most part of the year, the problem lies with lax enforcement and this is when accidents
involving express buses are reportedly on the rise.
While many bus companies are investing heavily on new fleets of luxury and double-decker buses, they
don't seem to be particularly generous when it comes to the welfare of what I consider to be the most
important people in the industry the bus drivers.
I sat down last week with two drivers at Kuala Lumpur's Hang Tuah Bus Station to get their side of the
story and true enough, the impression I got was that the people behind the wheel carrying so many lives
on long and monotonous journeys are a demotivated lot.
"Do you have basic pay and how many days off do you have in a week?" I asked.
It came as a shock to me to find that they don't even have a basic salary and are on the road most of the
week.
They are paid "trip allowances" of RM80 a trip and to take home between RM2,000 and RM3,000 a month,
they have to make as many trips as possible, foregoing sleep and rest.
The Consumers' Association of Penang once highlighted the case of bus drivers staying awake with the
help of psychotropic pills. It cited the confession of a drug-using driver plying the Kuala LumpurTerengganu route for 10 years. With the pill, he said "eyes are awake but the brain is asleep", adding
that most drivers tend to speed because they would otherwise feel sleepy.
The bus drivers I spoke with said most accidents tend to happen towards the end of a long journey when

the body is fatigued.

A lot of factors have been blamed for fatal express bus accidents but common sense dictates that a
sleepy driver is a major cause, and this seems to be ignored by the authorities and industry players.
In cases where the driver also gets killed in an accident, the authorities investigating the tragedy can not
determine the cause because a dead men tell no tales.
Malaysia's worst ever road accident occurred at 4.20am on Aug 13, 2007 when an express bus from Johor
Baru skidded and overturned near Bukit Gantang in Perak, killing 20 people including the driver.
According to co-driver V. Veeraman, the driver Rohizan Abu Bakar, had driven 700km over nine hours with
only a brief break in between on that fateful day.
Although the two-driver regulation was in place then, it proved to be useless because, according to
Veeraman, he himself was fast asleep when the accident happened.
On Dec 26, 2009, 10 passengers died when the express bus they were travelling in crashed through a
guardrail near the Ipoh toll plaza. Driver Mohd Kamil Rashid told police he was sleepy at the time of the
crash. Being sleepy proved to be no defence as Mohd Kamil is now serving a four-year jail sentence.
There is no excuse whatsoever for a co-driver, who is supposed to take over in the event the first driver
becomes tired or sleepy, to be fast asleep as in the Bukit Gantang tragedy.
The fact that this is still happening goes to show that bus companies have done little or nothing to give
their drivers a better deal.
To enhance road safety, the government set up a Road Safety Department a few years ago. But this
department has not been able to enforce the mandatory use of safety belts on board express buses,
despite the high death toll in crashes. If such regulations can be enforced on car drivers and passengers,
why not on express bus passengers and drivers?
I'm told that this is because many buses have plywood flooring which is not strong enough to retrofit
anchorage points for seat belts. This means that, although on the outside our express buses look tough
and modern, the flooring is not up to international standards and poses high safety risks.
The Transport Ministry should revisit this aspect given the vulnerability of these vehicles. It's also time
for another rule to enhance the status of bus drivers through more caring incentives.
Everyone must play their part in ensuring safe travel this festive season.
Azman Ujang is a former editor-in-chief of Bernama. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
Posted by jlshyang at 3:48 PM 4 people supporting our Petition
Labels: opinion, SPAD

Blacklisted Driver have no licence for the pass 13 years

The Star Online
In Baling, families of the seven victims who were killed claimed that the ill-fated bus was not the
one promised by the bus company and was not in good condition.
KUALA LUMPUR: The bus driver involved in Fridays bus crash that killed seven passengers has held no
driving licence for the past 13 years, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.
In fact, he had held only a learner licence in 1997. After that, he was blacklisted, Kong told Sin Chew
Daily on Saturday.
What makes me angry is that the bus operator had employed a driver without a licence.
This driver must be charged in court and his employer must take full responsibility, he said, adding
that the ministry had constantly advised public transport companies to ensure all drivers had valid
licences, were in good health and a clean driving record.
Kong also ordered the Road Transport Department to investigate the track records of the driver and the
bus operator and work with other related authorities to take them to court.
On Friday night the bus skidded and overturned at KM38 Genting Sempah killing seven and injuring 39
others
Selangor Public Order and Traffic Chief Supt Che Husin Omar said Saturday the Road Transport
Department (JPJ) had confirmed that the driver did not have a valid driving licence, Bernama reported
earlier.
"The driver had initially admitted to police that he had a driving licence but when JPJ conducted a
search, it was found that he did not have one," he told Bernama when contacted here Saturday.
Che Husin said the driver, who suffered a broken right leg and was currently receiving treatment at the
Kuala Lumpur Hospital, was detained for further investigations.
"He will be investigated under Section 41 of the Road Transport Act 1987, for reckless driving and causing
death," he said.
Che Husin said police would be inspecting the black box and also investigating whether the driver had
any past record for traffic offences or driving without a licence.
The ill-fated bus, with 44 youths aged between 14 and 25 from several villages in Baling, Kedah, was on
an educational trip and had left Kedah at 11pm Thursday and arrived in Genting Highlands at 8am Friday.
At 7pm Friday, the group left Genting Highlands for Kampung Melayu Subang to participate in a homestay
programme but was involved in the accident.
During the accident, seven people were killed, 17 seriously injured while 22 others escaped with minor
injuries, including the two bus drivers.

Meanwhile, in Baling, families of the seven victims who were killed claimed that the ill-fated bus was
not the one promised by the bus company.
Family members, when met in Kampung Baru, Mukim Siong were disappointed with the bus company for
failing to keep their promise of providing a bus that was in good condition.
Mustaffa Ibrahim, 60, said the family accepted the destiny of his child, Mohd Fahmi, 17, because it was
fated but expressed disappointment after realising that the bus company had provided a bus that was
not in good condition.
"They were promised a bus that was good but we only realised that it was not the bus that the company
provided for the tour," he said when met in his house here Saturday.
Those who were killed were Mohd Zaidi Mohd Sufian, 28, a religious teacher, Mohammad Amirul Mohamat
Isa, 13, Mohamad Khairy Mohamad Marzali, 14, Mohamad Yussof Akhil, 16, Mohamed Firdaus Rosedi, 16,
Mohd Fahmi Mustaffa, 17, and Mohd Ridzuan Husin, 17.
Mustaffa, an Imam in a local mosque, said all seven who died were related to each other and urged the
authorities to enforce strict measures to ensure such incidents do not recur.
Husin Hamid, 54, the father of Mohd Ridzuan who was also killed, said those responsible for the accident
must be dealt with by the authorities.
Meanwhile, Baling Umno division secretary Abdullah Sani Mahmud said the Youth and Sports department
would handle matters related to bringing the bodies of the death to Baling.
Posted by jlshyang at 12:15 AM 0 people supporting our Petition
Labels: news, opinion

We, the concerned youths of Malaysia express appalled anger towards the Slim River Bus
Crash incident that claimed the life of Lee Nian Ning, Mohd. Zailani and Pang Boon Eng on the
25th of January 2008. This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred. Despite
numerous complaints and public uproar in the past, incidents like this continue to occur. It
was reported that the drivers company had 13 summonses on that bus itself. We find it
unacceptable that such a company could have operated that vehicle on the road.
What are the explanations?
Hundreds of thousands of university students just like Nian Ning and us rely on such public
transport to travel back home. A human life should not be taken lightly.
How could a vehicle with 13 summonses be free on the roads and not be held by the
authorities?
We, the following, hereby demand that the relevant authorities set up a committee consisting
of road safety experts and representatives from relevant public bodies to conduct a thorough
study to find effective solutions to ensure that mistakes like this do not occur again in the
future.
We will not be quiet until we see it in the media that satisfactory measures have been taken.

THIRTEEN DAMMIT THIRTEEN!!!! AND HE IS A BUS DRIVER THAT IS SUPPOSED TO

TRANSPORT INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR GOD KNOWS HOW MANY MILES UNDER HIS
HORRIBLE DRIVING SKILLS.
Im sure now you would be pissed also? When will we, Malaysians learn our lesson?.. the last time
something like this happened they say they will check into all the bus companys drivers and check
for their traffic offense history etc, do they really do that bad of a job at checking? And sad to say, by
next month or maybe even weeks, nobody will remember this accident except the friends and families
of the victims in this tragic accident. I believe it is appropriate to say we, Malaysians have succeeded
again in doing what we do best, our no action, talk only attitude.
So here am I, asking the same old question about life. Why not let the irresponsible driver die instead?
Why God chose her, did she do anything so wrong that deserves death? Life is unfair I know you
agree..
Rest in peace Nian Ning, may your tragedy be a lesson to us all, someday