Yet another fatal crash on our roads. This time an express bus hit a detached lorry tyre lying in the middle of the highway, leading to a chain of crashes. Seven people died and 33 were injured in the accident in Alor Gajah, Melaka on Tuesday.
What is wrong with our heavy vehicles? As usual there were vows and other promises of action. The people cannot be blamed for complaining of a constant dizzy spell of deja vu after every major accident.
Yes, there were similar vows in the past after similar incidents, but there appears to be no end to the tragedies. We are not saying the authorities do not have the determination to tame such tragedies. No, not at all. What we are saying is that they appear not to take a deep dive into why such deadly crashes keep happening, not this or that crash in isolation.
As this Leader has said so many times before, accidents don't happen; they are caused. Fatalities and injuries as a result of road accidents are a tragic tale of many variables, including the safety features of the road, roadworthiness of vehicles and the fitness of drivers to be behind the wheel. Perhaps there is some wisdom in the suggestion to set up a task force to uncover the causes of and the remedies for the repeated road tragedies.
It is not that we do not have data. Every regulator in charge has this. The police provided one piece of information on Tuesday, hours after the accident.
Just in the first 10 months of this year, 825 lorries were involved in fatal road accidents, resulting in 5,364 deaths. For a fraction of all lorries on Malaysian roads to be involved in so many fatalities isn't something to be endured year after year.
Federal Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said light trucks, trailers and container lorries are the leading contributors to accidents involving commercial vehicles.
These heavy vehicles are known for major offences such as unsecured and hazardous loads, non-functioning brakes, and faulty signal lights. Commercial vehicles with non-functioning brakes? How do the owners allow the drivers to operate such unroadworthy vehicles?
Perhaps this is where the task force on a deep dive --- if it comes to pass, that is --- must start: the owners, the business and their drivers, in that order, at least as far as the commercial vehicles are concerned. Business isn't all commerce. It is about safety, too.
A breach of safety regulations will lead to a temporary business shutdown as happened to an express bus company in Penang, when a teenage passenger was electrocuted while charging his mobile phone using a power outlet on the bus. In serious cases, even a permanent closure may be ordered.
Bus and heavy vehicle operators must prioritise safety just like the airlines do. The onus is on the owners to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy. A trailer whose tyre is easily detached from its wheel is certainly not roadworthy.
If the owners are not ready, unable or unwilling, they must be forced out of the business. An unsafe business is no business at all. We say, take the deep dive. That will make all the difference.