I read with sadness the death of two dedicated teachers who were killed in an accident at Kota Tinggi . Eight of their students traveling with them suffered injuries.

The Road Transport Department should have a guideline on the number of passengers a vehicle can safely accommodate to stop such horrendous accidents from happening. Teachers are suppose to teach students and not ferry them from school to event to school event.

Lately, we have been reading about the number of fatal accidents involving small cars packed with to many passengers. I suppose poor families with large family members cannot afford to buy larger vehicles or vans and as such have no choice but to pack their offspring like sardines into the small family car which can result in fatal accidents.

The high prices of vehicles due to the numerous taxes and our government's policy of protecting the local car industry doesn't help the situation. Poor families have to rely on old vehicles which have seen better days.

Numerous campaigns by the government to encourage the public to drive safely seem to have fallen on deaf ears and fatal road accidents keep on happening during long holidays and festive seasons.

The long arm of law and hefty fines seem not to be a deterrent. It is ironical that our first-class highways with all their good facilities is a death trap for motorists who seem hell-bound to reach their destinations fast without a care for other motorists on the road.