Mandatory Measures to Enhance Road Safety Following Fatal Bus Accident

The Malaysian Ministry of Transport (MOT) has announced plans to implement mandatory measures to enhance road safety following a fatal bus accident that claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students. Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook stated that the ministry will enforce the use of speed-limiting devices on heavy vehicles and require the wearing of seatbelts on buses to prevent future accidents. The measures aim to address the common causes of accidents, including speeding and tampering with safety devices.

Key Takeaways:

• The Ministry of Transport will implement mandatory measures to enforce the use of speed-limiting devices on heavy vehicles, including lorries and buses.
• The measures will require the use of speed-limiting devices that cannot be tampered with, to prevent speeding and improve road safety.
• New buses manufactured from 2020 onwards are currently required to have seatbelts for all passengers, but the challenge lies in ensuring compliance for passengers to wear seatbelts.
• The Ministry of Transport is considering making it mandatory for bus drivers to ensure that all passengers wear their seatbelts, with the option of fitting bus seatbelts with a warning sound if passengers do not put on the seatbelt.
• The MOT will also explore the possibility of installing "on-board" video cameras on heavy vehicles to improve safety, although it is not yet mandatory.
• The bus involved in the accident on the East-West Highway was built in 2013 and did not have seatbelts.

Statistics:

• 15 students were killed in the fatal bus accident on the East-West Highway.
• New buses manufactured from 2020 onwards are currently required to have seatbelts for all passengers.
• The bus involved in the incident was built in 2013.
• It is estimated that speeding and tampering with safety devices are common causes of accidents on Malaysian roads.

Sources:

• BERNAMA News Agency, "MOT to implement mandatory measures on enforcement and monitoring of heavy vehicles" (10 Jun 2025)
• BERNAMA News Agency, "Loke: Make it mandatory for passengers to wear seatbelts" (10 Jun 2025)