THE complacent, constantly enraged drivers oblivious to road safety, along with those high on drugs to beat fatigue while handling heavy commercial vehicles, are major contributors to fatal accidents.
Last year, their impact on highway transgressions was grim: 600,000 road accidents that claimed 6,443 lives, with 65 per cent of the fatalities being young motorcyclists and pillion riders aged 16 to 35.
These harrowing statistics place Malaysia as the third-highest in road accident deaths in Asia and Asean, behind Thailand and Vietnam — a pattern unchanged since 2007.
At 5.4 per cent, transport-related accidents are the fourth most common killers, behind heart disease (13.2 per cent), pneumonia (12.5 per cent) and cerebrovascular disease (6.9 per cent).
Heavy vehicles — lorries, express buses, tractors and vans — comprise 10 per cent of total traffic but account for 34 per cent of fatalities.
Their risky presence on highways triggers accidents due to overloading and speeding, making up 21 per cent of Plus Highway crashes last year.
What's more, heavy vehicle pile-ups cause severe congestion and road closures, exacerbated by cumbersome post-accident removal and clean-up efforts.
It's also why heavy vehicles are barred from entering city limits during rush hour, a rule that is frequently ignored.
It raises this question: whatever happened to plans to install speed limiters, black boxes and other safety initiatives designed to prevent heavy vehicle collisions?
The response has always been reactionary. After every horrific fatal crash, the authorities regurgitate road safety initiatives, only to shelve them the moment normal business resumes.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke's reaction has been predictable: he is fixated on corralling express and tour bus drivers caught under the influence of methamphetamine by the Road Transport Department.
But the real question is, why are these drivers taking "speed", a potent central nervous system stimulant that desperate students sometimes resort to when cramming for exams, often to their detriment?
While Loke has rightly blamed owners and operators of heavy vehicle companies for the lapse of control over their speed-addled drivers, there's a wider context at play here.
At the root of the issue is economics: drivers are incentivised to earn more by completing additional trips per day, rather than being paid a weekly or monthly salary.
But this pressure to complete more trips not only wears them out physically, but it also leads to severe driver fatigue.
The chemical boost from drugs may steady their nerves temporarily, but it triples the risk of dangerous and reckless driving.
At the same time, transport companies face cut-throat competition and intense industry demands for faster and more continuous delivery, compounded by a shortage of drivers.
The conclusion is clear: to reduce heavy vehicle accidents, the authorities should ban trip-based compensation, replacing them with fixed wages and a more practical driving schedule.
The haulage system also needs reforms, backed by strong preventive measures. But it's not that simple.
If it were, there would have been huge reductions in highway tragedies, and Malaysia's road safety record wouldn't be so notorious.