Lam Thye stresses road safety culture to avert accidents

Accidents such as the bus mishap in Genting Highlands today will continue to occur so long as bus operators and drivers fail to embrace a road safety culture, said National Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He said it was high time to put a stop to this.

"Investigate, study and report the habit of drivers after every accident ... so that lessons can be learned," he said.

"Let us not pay lip service to safety," he told Bernama tonight, commenting on the Genting Highlands bus accident.

Thirty-seven people died and 16 were injured after a bus with 53 people on board plunged into a 60-metre ravine at Km3.5 of Jalan Genting Highlands-Kuala Lumpur as it was descending from the hill resort at 2.45 pm today.

Lee said the accident was a tragedy that could have been averted but it looked like there was no end to these accidents.

"It is either due to human or mechanical failure. This is not the first time that a bus plunged into a ravine.

"We never seem to learn from past mistakes," he said.