Recently I was driving from Ipoh to Penang one fine night at 90 km/h when suddenly I saw a huge lorry fully-laden moving slowly on the left lane. I couldn't notice this lorry from a distance because its  taillights were too small compared to the size of the lorry plus the lights were very dim. Probably they were covered with dust and mud.

Luckily I was able to slow down in time but I could imagine if any other drivers with greater speed failed to see the lorry in time.

Another day, also while driving home from Ipoh to Penang, at about 90 km/h, I saw a similar lorry on the left lane moving slowly. This lorry had no tail lights at all! I was almost too close to the lorry before realising it. I applied sudden braking, rudely awakening my passengers sleeping in the rear.

Imagine a driver at 120 km/h coming up on this unlighted lorry. The rest you can imagine. Immediately, I called Plus’ 24 hour hotline and reported the condition of the lorry and its exact location on the highway. I ordered the phone operator on duty to dispatch a Plus patrol team or the traffic police to the scene and nail the driver before someone got killed on the highway.

I pray that action was taken against this very dangerous lorry. It's time for our government to introduce a new safety ruling requiring all lorries and busses to have bigger and clearer taillights plus additional lights along the frame of the vehicle. In the US, heavy trailers are fully lighted on all sides from top to bottom.

From a distance, not only can you see the lights but almost the entire shape of the vehicle. This is how lorries and busses should be lighted up  at night on highways for a clearer view to other road- users.

Another preventive measure that I would like to suggest to highway operators is to inspect every big vehicle’s lights at the toll stations before allowing them to continue onto the highway. If they fail the inspection, these lorries or busses should be grounded there and then.

Of course, it will be a hell of a task in the initial stages but over a long run, the number of inspections to be conducted will reduce once the awareness and the importance of night lighting becomes widespread. This idea is worth it as we do not want unnecessary deaths on the highways due to a lack of vision and clarity.

I hope the highway operators do something about this matter to protect innocent road users.