PUTRAJAYA: Over a third of fatal road accidents on highways involve heavy vehicles despite only making up 10% of traffic in 2023, says PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS).
PLUS managing director Datuk Nik Airina Nik Jaffar said that 34% of fatal accidents on PLUS highways had involved heavy vehicles such as lorries, buses, tractors and others.
She added that heavy vehicles were also involved in over a fifth of PLUS highway road accidents or 21% in 2023, revealing both the significant danger heavy vehicles posed to other vehicles.
“Apart from road safety, heavy vehicle accidents also severely affect a highway’s operability by causing severe congestion and sometimes even road closures depending on the accident's severity due to the fact they are far larger than cars.
“This is made worse by the long removal process and clean-up works in the aftermath of such incidents,” she said in her speech at the Heavy Vehicle Conference 2024 (Hevtec) on Wednesday (Sept 4).
Nik Airina said PLUS found that a number of the heavy vehicle accidents were likely due to overloading and exceeding the legal limit.
"Based on our observations, we found that heavy vehicles carrying excessive loads were at the most risk to be involved in accidents.
“Therefore, we hope that all heavy vehicle operators play their role and comply with the permissible load limit to increase safety levels on the highway for the good of all road users.
“Safety on the road is generally our shared responsibility and it is through commitment from all parties that we may be able to holistically improve the national road safety for all road users,” she added.
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) director Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon had a similar opinion, advocating for industry players to prioritise safety over short-term savings.
“Industry players must change their views on safety as not just a cost to meet minimum safety standards but as a way to provide cost savings for the company itself.
“This is because with every accident the company’s heavy vehicles suffer, they lose a significant amount of money either in the form of compensation to victims or employees, paying fines as well as the loss of the vehicle and all goods on board.
“By making a significant investment in safety and policies, they can ensure that their business operations are not disrupted while also ensuring the safety of their employees and the public.
"It helps prevent the loss of valuable goods and materials that can happen in severe accidents. Depending on the cargo and load, such losses can significantly impact the industry as a whole," he said during a forum discussion at the conference.
Hevtec, held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, was held together with the Conference On Asia Road Safety (Cars) 2024 which also saw the attendance of regulators and participants from various road enforcement agencies.
The joint conferences, which was organised in collaboration with Miros and the Social Security Organisation (Socso), is being held for three days from Sept 2 to Sept 4 with the aim of discussing the issue of worsening road safety in Malaysia.
In July earlier this year, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that Malaysia recorded an eight-year peak loss of RM25bil in economic value to road accidents in 2023.
Loke noted that this was more than 35% increase in annual economic losses due to road accidents compared to the RM18bil lost in 2010, during ministry question time at the Dewan Rakyat in July.
