A FORMER board member of an agency under the Transport Ministry has urged the government to make it mandatory for bus and logistics operators to install a telematics system linked to the driver database as part of the licensing condition following a recent fatal crash involving Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students on Monday (June 9).
Road safety activist Shahrim Tamrin said this in response to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook’s recent announcement that the government will establish a centralised database to monitor the records of express and tour bus drivers, aiming to curb negligence and improve public transport safety.
The database, to be developed by the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), will enable the government and bus operators to identify drivers with prior offences.
“It has been music to our ears as there are drivers with so many summonses and yet still allowed to drive heavy vehicles which include lorries, express buses, stage buses and tour buses,” he said.
“Over the years, it has been a systematic failure on the part of the Transport Ministry and Home Ministry which include the Road Transport Department (JPJ), APAD and police.
“I believe this is all due to the non-integration and the absence of traffic and vehicle safety offences of a centralised database system of the Public Service Vehicles (PSV) license for buses and Goods Driving License (GDL) holders in the logistics sector.”
Shahrim, who was a Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research board member for three years, noted that in the past there were efforts by the disbanded Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to address this problem.
Driver Information System
According to Shahrim, SPAD had developed a Driver Information System (DIS) for taxi drivers for driver screening with merit or demerit outcome in 2013.
The DIS had six functions which consist of driver’s card application, classification, pre-employment check, employment details update, driver’s rating and validity check.
DIS classified drivers based on their track record for tracking and monitoring purposes such as traffic offence, criminal offence and complaints. It also offers the drivers employment status online and the public can check drivers rating and validity.
At some level, SPAD had succeeded in higher visibility of drivers’ status and performance and tracking illegal taxi drivers. The DIS also benefits taxi companies to get more details before recruiting taxi drivers.
“In 2017, SPAD had tried to implement a centralised database system or known as Drivers and Commercial Vehicles Information System (DCVIS), which was a similar template of DIS for taxis, for heavy vehicles in the transportation and logistics sector that include express bus, tour bus, lorries, haulage and stage buses,” he recalled.
“The objective back then was to implement an electronic system for driver databases to be integrated into all operators to screen drivers with good records (traffic and criminal offence) for employment.
“The DCIVS plan was also to act as a screening process with the tap of an RFID card of a telematics system in the vehicle so that drivers with only clean records can start the journey.”
Shahrim explained that the proposed DCIVS was also an effort to record the history and traffic offences of buses, lorries, express buses, stage buses and tour buses.
“In other words, if the system found that the drivers and/or the vehicles have many outstanding summonses, it won’t start the engine,” he noted.
“SPAD wanted to design DCVIS as a system to be in place that prioritizes safety from within. However, the plan was halted when the commission was disbanded in phases at the end of 2018.”
The mission ahead
Shahrim said this is an opportunity for APAD and the Transport Ministry to revive the incomplete project by SPAD eight years ago.
“I urge the government not just stop at a driver database system. This is also an opportunity for APAD and JPJ to develop a thorough tracking (telematics) and record management system for heavy vehicle operators. It is called the Performance Monitoring Hub System (PMHS),” he said.
“Therefore, I call for the Transport Ministry, APAD and JPJ together with police to have a good look, sit down as soon as possible and chart the DCVIS template that was halted before the demise of SPAD.
“I also call for a political will and real commitment by the Home Minister and Transport Minister moreover, since there is currently a Committee on Road Traffic and Road Safety at the Cabinet level, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“Lastly, I hope the KEJARA system will be included in this comprehensive monitoring system—telematics and driver information system—which will be developed by APAD. Let’s address this problem once and for all to make the roads safer.”
The driver of the bus carrying students from UPSI, which crashed in Gerik early Monday morning and claimed 15 lives, had a record of 18 traffic summonses.
On Tuesday, Sinar Harian reported Federal Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri had revealed that the bus driver had 18 outstanding summonses.
He said 13 summonses were for speeding, three for not wearing a seatbelt, one for not having a third brake light, and another for involvement in a previous accident.
Further checks on the vehicle revealed that the bus had 21 traffic summonses linked to it, with five of these still under investigation while the rest have been settled in court. ‒ June 13, 2025
Main image: Bernama
