‘Not fair to blame every road crash on SPAD’

Not all matters of public transport come under our jurisdiction, says SPAD chairman Syed Hamid Albar.

KUALA LUMPUR: It is regrettable that the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is blamed each time a public transport vehicle, such as an express bus, gets into an accident, says its chairman, Syed Hamid Albar.

He said not all matters of public transport came under the purview of SPAD. Some, he said, came under the jurisdiction of the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the police.

“To clarify matters, we will post on our website the information on which functions are under SPAD, JPJ and the police.

“This is to avoid confusion over what action SPAD is authorised to take on matters of safety and accidents involving public transport, such as buses,” he said at a press conference at SPAD headquarters today.

His statement follows recent criticism of SPAD, which was accused of acting only after an accident had occurred, such as the Christmas bus crash.

Fourteen, including the driver, were killed and 16 injured when the bus headed for Kuala Lumpur plunged into a ravine near Pagoh, Johor.

Syed Hamid said the government was in fact concerned about the safety of public transport.

To improve the safety of public buses, it has introduced new regulations, including barring double-decker buses from travelling on high ground, making a second brake system mandatory in buses and disallowing standing passengers.

Syed Hamid said such regulations were among effective ways of increasing safety and reducing accidents.

“There are things we can anticipate, but not all accidents are preventable.

“That is why we introduce new rules based on experience.” FMT