HARSH, absurd and senseless as it may sound, the ‘spur of the moment’ rage for the head of Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook to roll should best be taken in a positive light as the right – or probably RUDE – wake-up call to enhance road safety involving heavy vehicles.
Imagine barely 24 hours after 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students perished after their chartered bus travelling from Jertih to Tanjung Malim overturned on the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik in the wee hours of Monday (June 9), another crash involving an East Coast-bound express bus had to happen.
Fortunately, all the 28 passengers onboard, including 13 Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) students, escaped unhurt after their bus rammed into the rear of a trailer at KM161.5 of the East Coast Expressway (LPT) eastbound in the 1am accident
The bus en route from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan Kuala Lumpur to Terminal Sentral Kuantan was travelling on the left lane when it was believed to have collided with the rear of a trailer travelling in the same direction, according to Maran OCPD Supt Wong Kim Wai.
As the case is being investigated under Section 43(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, the police had revealed that driver of the ill-fated bus chartered by the UPSI students had a record of 18 traffic summonses.
Of these, 13 summonses were for speeding, accident-related offence (one), not wearing a seatbelt (three) and a faulty third brake light (one), according to Federal Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.
“Further checks on the vehicle revealed that the bus had 21 traffic summonses linked to it,” he reportedly told the New Straits Times. “Five of these are still under investigation while the rest have been settled in court.”
As Perak police chief Comm Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said remand order is awaiting the driver who is currently receiving treatment at Taiping Hospital, the latter had apologised to families of the victims, attributing the tragedy to “brakes stopped working without warning and at the same time, the air system failed”.
“I tried everything I could – but without air pressure, nothing worked. The handbrake was unresponsive and I couldn’t even shift gears.” the 39-yeat-old driver Mohd Amirul Fadhil Zulkifle, 39, related the ordeal from his hospital bed.
Added Amirul who hails from Besut, Terengganu and has been a bus driver since 2016:
“I know the Jeli-Gerik route well – I wasn’t speeding, especially since we were going downhill.
“In all my years of driving, this is the first accident I’ve had that involved fatalities. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.
“But I can’t turn back time. All I can do now is apologise, and let the authorities carry out their investigation.”
As Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said called for corporate manslaughter law to punish deadly negligence, it seems that the relevant authorities will have to unravel contradictions stemming from eyewitnesses account that the chartered bus was indeed speeding prior to the accident.
The matter was revealed by Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad who visited injured passenger Lili Suzana Mat Yaakob, 23, at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) yesterday (June 10).
Apart from Lili Suzana, another student, Nor Erika Elysha Mohd Zaidi is also receiving treatment at the same hospital. – June 11, 2025
