Bus driver in Gerik crash apologises, blames ‘faulty brakes'
PETALING JAYA : The driver in the fatal bus crash that killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students yesterday has apologised to their families, claiming that the incident occurred due to a brake malfunction.
Amirul Fadhil Zulkifle, 39, said the brakes malfunctioned when the bus reached the elephant crossing bridge at Gerik, although the vehicle had been in good condition upon its departure from Terengganu.
'I was trying everything I could, but none (of the bus's brake systems) were working, including the handbrake. Even the gears of the bus could not be changed,' Harian Metro quoted him as saying.
Amirul said others on the road might have seen him cutting past vehicles and speeding, but claimed he was doing so to minimise the damage and avoid colliding with other vehicles.
'The last vehicle I cut past had a dashcam, and by then I was doing my best to mitigate the situation,' he said.
He claimed that, upon realising the failure of the brakes, he immediately shouted for the students to take cover and prepare for impact.
Amirul also said that while the students seated at the front may have understood him, most at the back were asleep, and could have interpreted his warnings as an outburst.
Local transportation think tank MY Mobility Vision said his description matched common failure modes in buses with air brakes, and called for a critical forensic investigation of the bus's systems to determine the cause behind the tragedy.
In a statement, the think tank said the accident might be symptomatic of a larger problem with Malaysia's road infrastructure, as evidence indicated that the guardrails had penetrated the bus cabin, posing an even larger risk to its passengers.
'Every guardrail on a federal highway must perform to standards, particularly the MASH TL-3 specifications that Malaysia has committed to adopting.
'We must ask: did this barrier fail to perform when lives depended on it?' said MY Mobility Vision.
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