PUTRAJAYA: The fatal crash involving members of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) in Teluk Intan, Perak, could have been avoided if the stone-carrying lorry involved had adhered to stringent inspections by the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom).
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said preliminary investigations revealed that the lorry suffered a malfunction that caused its steering system to fail, a situation that would not have occurred if the vehicle had been regularly inspected.
“This should not have happened if the vehicle had undergone a Puspakom inspection. We should not only place the responsibility on the lorry driver, but the company owner must also be held accountable,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid was speaking at a press conference after chairing the Cabinet Committee Meeting on Road Safety and Traffic Congestion (JK-MKKJR) here today.
At 8.50 am today, nine FRU personnel were killed and others injured after the truck they were travelling in collided with a lorry carrying stones on Jalan Chikus–Sungai Lampam.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said the government would immediately install street lights along several highway stretches identified as fatal accident blackspots.
He said the matter was agreed upon at today’s Cabinet Committee Meeting on Road Safety and Traffic Congestion (JK-MKKJR).
In addition, he said the committee also agreed that drastic measures should be taken to reduce traffic congestion in Malaysia caused by the high number of vehicles.
“The fact we are facing is that Malaysia has 34.1 million residents but 38.7 million vehicles... this means the number of vehicles exceeds the number of residents, and this may have contributed to road congestion and road accidents,“ he said.
Ahmad Zahid said among the measures to be taken was the addition of dedicated bus lanes in the Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru.
“This addition of bus lanes will not only encourage the use of public transport but will also reduce the number of vehicles passing through congested areas,“ he said.
