Buses are the preferred mode of transport for many Malaysians. Passengers want more action from the authorities on poor operations.
THE authorities are urged to conduct regular spot checks on express bus drivers following the Genting Highlands tour bus crash incident on June 29.
University student Tan Jing Hong said this would prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
“As a frequent traveller who uses the express bus service, reading about a bus crash scares me,” he said when met at Larkin Sentral Terminal in Jalan Garuda, Johor Baru.
The 21-year-old studying engineering at a university in Singapore was on his way home to Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
Tan said the Genting Highlands bus crash could have been avoided if the tour company was more stringent when hiring bus drivers.
He said express bus operators must ensure their drivers possessed a valid driver’s licence.
“The operators must always remind their drivers to observe the speed limit.
“There have been times where the express bus I was taking from Johor to Seremban was being driven dangerously,” added Tan.
Jamal Hafiz urges JPJ to conduct road blocks to nab errant express bus drivers.Heavy vehicles and buses in Malaysia have lower maximum speed limits on expressways and federal roads, typically ranging between 80 and 90kph.
Sales engineer Jamal Hafiz Che Japar, 30, urged the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to conduct road blocks to nab errant express bus drivers.
“Every time I read about accidents involving express buses or lorries, either the brakes malfunctioned or the drivers tested positive for drugs or had outstanding traffic summonses,” he said.
Jamal Hafiz, who travels to Johor Baru every two weeks to meet clients, said he would either fly in from Kuala Lumpur International Airport or take a bus from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) in Bandar Tasek Selatan, Kuala Lumpur.
“Road blocks and spot checks on errant drivers should be conducted regularly and not only during major celebrations, weekends or public holidays,” he added.
Jamal Hafiz said authorities also needed to look into cases where buses failed to depart on time.
“Once, the bus I took from TBS was scheduled to depart for Johor Baru at 9pm but was delayed until 10.30pm,” he said.
He added that the reason given was that there were not enough passengers for the 9pm departure, so they were grouped with those in the 10.30pm slot.
“This only leads to the bus driver breaking the speed limit to make it to the destination on time for the 9pm ticket holders,” added Jamal Hafiz.
In the June 29 tragedy, a tour bus carrying 18 Chinese tourists with a driver, an assistant and a tour guide crashed on the way down from Genting Highlands, killing two people, Zhang Ping, 58, and Wang Suhong, 49.
The 32-year-old bus driver was found not having a valid driver’s licence and also had 27 previous traffic summonses for various offences.
Preliminary investigations showed that the bus involved in the accident was over 15 years old and its permit expired in February.
