By James Chin

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The road authorities should consider allowing the heavy load vehicles to only use the west coast expressway during peak travel season as one of the moves to reduce fatalities from accidents.

As the public mourn over the spate of senseless deaths, including the recent one  where 15 undergraduates of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students were killed in a crash involving their charted bus and a multi-purpose vehicle on the East-West Highway near Gerik in Perak.

Last month, there was another major fatality when nine Federal Reserve Unit policemen were killed at Km15 of Jalan Sungai Manik–Sungai Lampam after a lorry collided with their truck in Perak.

Former Penang transport engineer Lim Thean Heng urged the road transport department (JPJ) to enforce that heavy laden vehicles can only use the west coast expressway during peak hours instead of the north - south expressway under PLUS.

There would be a faster dispersal system on both ends as lorry / trailer drivers would not need to navigate through a maze of slow moving lighter vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles.

They can stick to a straight line without needing to overtake and reduce speed constantly when driving along the west coast highway, since traffic volume at the new highway is relatively lighter than the PLUS highway, said Lim.

He also called for special lanes for lorries, trailers and express buses including tour buses on all major roads while the drivers must undergo strict inspection before they begin their journey.

Driving skills must also be upgraded, as how to keep at cruise but safety speeds and how and when to overtake slow moving vehicles.

Lim also urged for the deployment of drones to oversee traffic during peak travel periods from the public to school holidays.

Former Batu Uban assemblyman S. Raveentharan said that the legislation governing road safety must be fine tuned to suit the present times where there are now more vehicles on the road compared to before Covid - 19.

A new subculture has engulfed the Malaysian community where more now prefer to travel as free independent travellers instead of in a tour group, hence more cars are on the road.

The campaign to use public transport will come to nought if the drivers and operators are careless on the roads, and this applies to those operating the rail and air travel services too, said Raveentharan.

"We need to be conscious of the traffic flow and this government cannot take it lightly by condoning too much congestion on roads. Accidents are bound to happen and now deadly ones."

Other civil society activists are proposing the banning of express bus operators from driving after midnight, and lowering the cost of ride sharing services, so those needing to commute can use such services instead of relying on the traditional mode of express or charted buses.

There is also plans to raise the wages of the drivers and reduce their daily trips to ensure that they are fully alert and rewards must be accorded to those who practised high safety standards.

Former Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairmen Datuk Suret Singh said that a holistic measure needs to be adopted instead of stopgap measures over road safety.

Suret said that the spate of deadly road crashes is a wake up call to the authorities that more must be done to ensure road safety prevails over timely arrivals or cost savings, adding that it must be long - term and proactive instead of just being reactive to road tragedies.

It is learnt that some quarters are now mooting for APAD to be upgraded back to the Land Public Transport Commission (LPAD) while JPJ is strengthen with more enforcement clout.

Public transport in the country seems to be struggling under the weight of expectations despite that billions were poured in to provide services from the light rail transit system to more roads and public buses.