Sleeping on the job

Sun2Surf, the online version of theSun newspaper, hit the nail on the head today when it said that some authorities are sleeping on the job. The newspaper said lack of action from the Police and the Road Transport Department (RTD) contributed to the horror bus accident that happened in the early hours of Monday near Bukit Gantang in Perak.

Enforcement is shockingly poor and nobody is doing anything about it, said Sun2Surf, pointing to these observations:

• RTD's demerit point penalty system is as good as dead;
• The bus operators do not have access to RTD and the Police's online records to check on drivers they employ;
• The bus had failed the brake tests by Puspakom (privatised commercial vehicles inspection centre) four times;
• The bus had been summoned 19 times by the Police since 1991 and 79 times by RTD in the last five years;
• The driver had 13 traffic summonses and two warrants of arrest but the Police took no action against him.

I'm not surprised. We have always been a reactive society, never a proactive one. Only when accidents happen do we see the government, the politicians and the authorities stir into action. Even then, they'll pontificate and blow hot for a few weeks and then when the rakyat thinks that some action is finally going to be taken, everything will fizzle away. Memories sure fade fast for those not directly affected by the accident.

Yesterday over the RedFM radio station, it was mentioned that every bus was required to display a toll-free telephone number (1-800-88-9600) for the public to make complaints easily to the Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP). I should also mention that the same toll-free number appears behind every commercial vehicle. This will include lorries and taxis. However, callers said that nobody seemed to be manning the toll-free number. Calls went unanswered. Even the RedFM announcers tried unsuccessfully to call the number at 9am.

If this is the attitude of the LPKP, it is no surprise that drivers of commercial vehicles are so emboldened on the roads because they know that nobody will ever manage to complain. Traffic police, RTD, LPKP ... they don't seem to be performing. Or perhaps they are inefficient. Or clueless. Or overworked. Or underpaid. Or overpaid. Or ... what?

Gee ... what a rightful mess. What a farce. But don't laugh, please don't laugh. It affects you too. You have a stake in this mess too. As long as we travel on the roads, each of us have a stake in this poor state of public safety. Only, let's just hope we won't ever be involved in it.