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Recently, Malaysia has seen a rise in road accidents involving lorries. To reduce these incidents and make our roads safer, it’s worth looking at practical measures already implemented in other countries.
In places like Singapore, lorries are required to have sideguards installed between their wheels. These safety features are designed to prevent pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists from being pulled under the vehicle during a collision.
Making underride guards mandatory in Malaysia could help save lives and greatly reduce the risk of serious injuries.
Another important step is for the Transport Ministry to enforce stricter maintenance standards. Many lorry accidents happen due to faulty brakes, retreaded tyres, or overloaded cargo.
Regular safety checks and clear regulations would help ensure lorries are roadworthy and hold transport companies accountable for vehicle upkeep.
Speed control is also a major concern, especially on highways and downhill roads where lorry drivers can easily lose control.
In Singapore, speed limiters are now mandatory for lorries weighing between 3,501kg and 12,000kg, limiting them to a maximum speed of 60 km/h.
The Transport Ministry of Malaysia should consider adopting a similar measure, supported by enforcement through speed cameras and highway patrols. This could help prevent runaway lorries and reduce the severity of crashes.
In addition, the misuse of the fast/overtaking lane by lorries is a serious issue on Malaysian roads. This behavior endangers smaller vehicles and disrupts traffic flow.
The Transport Minister should take action by enforcing lane discipline more, ensuring that lorries stay in the left lane and penalizing those who misuse the overtaking lane.
Overall, improving safety features, enforcing vehicle maintenance, controlling speed, and ensuring proper lane usage are crucial steps in preventing future lorry accidents and making Malaysia’s roads safer for everyone.
Tze Xuan (tzexuan2003@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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