Traffic summon system to be standardised

The Road Transport Department (RTD) will discuss with the Royal Malaysian Police and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) on move to standardise the summon system by next Friday.

RTD director-general Datuk Nadzri Siron said the move to standardise the summon system among the three agencies would ensure a more effective action against errant motorists.

"Currently, RTD, SPAD and the police have separate system in carrying enforcement operations and they have no access to each other's summon system and this pose a problem to act," he told Bernama.

He said this when asked why no action was taken by RTD against the driver and express bus involved in an accident at KM265.8 of the North-South Expressway near the Menora Tunnel near Ipoh recently despite them having outstanding traffic summonses issued since 2011.

Nazri said the summonses that were issued to the driver and express bus were not by RTD, but the police.

"All drivers and express buses operating nationwide are free from the department's black list," he added.

He said the summonses issued by RTD to express buses currently were only for speeding and beating traffic lights under the Automatic Enforcement System (AES).

Even then, he said, there constraints for RTD to take action against AES offenders because the system was still in the process of being merged with the Kejara demerit point system.

Meanwhile, SPAD chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah said the commission welcomed the proposal to standardise the summon system.

"Actually, we are also working on a solution, like having an integrated system involving all the three agencies to avoid duplication of enforcement," he added.

He said currently, it was a problem for SPAD to take action against express bus drivers and operators as it did not have information on summonses issued by other agencies against them.

"As such, SPAD issued licence to express bus operators based on our own record and inspection that they driver and vehicle did not have summonses for traffic offences," he added.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) president Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason expressed concern that the frequent road accidents involving buses would hamper efforts by the government to encourage the people to use public transport for long journey or during festive holidays.

He said such road accidents could erode the people's confidence to travel by bus.

"It is Fomca's hope that the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) standards for buses be widely enforced especially on anchorage, superstructure and seat belts for passengers in Malaysia," he added.

In another development, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) director-general Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon said Miros was still analysing the crash Menora Tunnel crash involving the express bus and would submit a report on it to the Transport Minister.