MOT to develop database system for express, tour bus drivers
KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Transport (MOT) will develop a database system for express and tour bus drivers, complete with their previous records, to improve the safety of public land transportation.
Its Minister, Anthony Loke, said the system, to be developed by the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), would enable bus companies to assess the eligibility and background of drivers before hiring them.
'Currently, in our system, we do not have a database that covers all drivers. We only have their licensing (details) but whether or not they have any previous records, the companies that hire them have no references.
'In the system, perhaps a driver who did not carry out his responsibilities properly and was sacked from company A, he may go to company B... so, drivers lacking in integrity are still on the market,' he said.
He said this at today's joint media conference with Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil and Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi on the fatal crash involving Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students on Monday (June 16).
In the incident, 15 UPSI students were killed when the chartered bus carrying them from Jertih to the main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, overturned after it collided with a Perodua Alza multi-purpose vehicle along the East-West Highway, while 33 others were injured, including the bus driver and his assistant, as well as the driver and three passengers of the Perodua Alza car.
Meanwhile, Loke said the preliminary report on the May 13 fatal crash involving Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel in Perak last month would be uploaded to the MOT's website tomorrow.
He added that the report would also contain several findings from the relevant technical agencies, including the Road Transport Department and the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom).
'The reason this report is being made public is to allow the people to understand the case facts and space for researchers, especially road safety experts like mechanical experts, to see all the facts about the accident and be able to conduct studies and research,' he said.
In the May 13 incident, nine FRU personnel from Unit 5, based in Sungai Senam, Ipoh died in the crash on Jalan Chikus-Sungai Lampam at 8.50 am when a lorry collided with a truck carrying 18 FRU personnel, who were returning from an assignment in Teluk Intan.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
38 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bus driver in fatal UPSI crash arrested
The bus overturned at Km53 of the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik, early on Monday morning, killing 15 UPSI students. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The driver of the chartered bus that crashed in Gerik on Monday killing 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students, has been arrested. Perak police chief Noor Hisam Nordin said the 39-year-old man was detained at about 6pm after being discharged from Taiping Hospital, where he was treated for injuries sustained in the crash. The suspect will be brought to the Gerik district police headquarters (IPD) to assist in the investigation under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, which pertains to causing death by reckless or dangerous driving. 'We have received instructions from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC). (He) will be charged in the Gerik (magistrates') court tomorrow,' Nor Hisam said in a Bernama report. The bus was chartered by UPSI students who had celebrated Hari Raya Aidiladha in Jerteh, Terengganu, over the weekend, and were travelling back to their campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak. It overturned at Km53 of the East-West Highway near Tasik Banding, Gerik, killing 15 students. The crash also left 33 others injured, including the bus driver, his assistant and four people in an MPV involved in the collision. On Tuesday, Sinar Harian reported that Bukit Aman traffic investigation and enforcement department director 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. Transport minister Loke Siew Fook reportedly said that based on dashcam footage from another road user, it was clear that the bus was 'speeding and overtaking' before it lost control and overturned.
New Straits Times
44 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Gerik crash: Bus driver to be charged tomorrow
IPOH: The driver of the bus involved in the crash that claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students in Gerik on Monday will be charged tomorrow. Perak police chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the 39-year-old man, who was apprehended after being discharged from Taiping Hospital, would be taken to the Gerik Court. "Tomorrow, after Friday prayers, he will be charged at the Gerik Magistrate's Court," he said when contacted today. Earlier, it was reported that police arrested the bus driver at about 5.45pm after he was discharged from hospital. He will be taken to the Gerik police headquarters to facilitate investigations under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for causing death by reckless or dangerous driving. It is learnt that the man was accompanied by three policemen, believed to be from the Gerik police headquarters, when they left the hospital compound. It was reported that the bus driver was among those injured in the crash. Noor Hisam had said the driver sustained injuries to his hand. On Monday, the bus, carrying 42 UPSI students, was travelling from Jertih, Terengganu, to the university's main campus when it collided with a Perodua Alza at Km53 of the East-West Highway in Gerik. Thirteen students died at the scene, while two others succumbed to their injuries in hospital. The driver, his attendant, the other UPSI students and a family of four in the Alza all sustained injuries of varying degrees.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Gerik Crash: Shattered hope as families receive death certificates
JERTIH: Nearly a year ago, Mohamad Isma Abdul Manaf sent off his eldest daughter, Nur Dalila Farhana, to university with the hope that she would return home with a degree. But fate had other plans. Instead of a degree, today, the 47-year-old father received his daughter's death certificate. Nur Dalila Farhana, 21, was among the 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students who perished in the tragic crash along the East-West Highway in Gerik, Perak, on Monday. 'It tore me apart to see my daughter's name on a death certificate. No parent ever wishes to face that, but this is my fate. I have to accept it and stay strong,' he told Bernama after receiving the document from Terengganu National Registration Department (NRD) director Mohamad Nasir Kareem at the family's home in Kampung Bharu Tok Dhor here. Mohamad Isma said that the death certificate in hand would ease matters for him and his wife, Norinda Kasim, 49, in handling other affairs, such as insurance claims and related issues. The crash occurred when the chartered bus, en route from Jertih to UPSI's main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, collided with a Perodua Alza multipurpose vehicle before overturning. The accident also left 33 others injured, including the bus driver and his assistant, as well as the driver and three passengers of the Perodua Alza. Meanwhile, Mohamad Nasir said that eight death certificates were handed over to the next of kin at their respective residences today, adding that five others were collected by family members at the NRD counters, whereas two more are still being processed. 'This is an initiative by the NRD to ease the burden on families by handling the death registration process for their children without requiring them to be present at the NRD counters in Besut or Setiu,' he added.
