I have heard of many accidents involving express busses during the last week’s festive break. Every time I feel for the victims of accidents which could have been avoided with stringent maintenance protocol and improved enforcement by public transport regulators such as the Land Transport Commission (Spad).

My staffer was in a bus which rammed 10 cars on the North-South Expressway yesterday (Sunday, July 10, 2016). Media reports say that there was a brake failure. Video of the bus appearing to be driven fast and ramming into vehicles has gone viral. The reality of how serious is the problem with express bus services in Malaysia has hit home when my staffed was involved.

Victims can be the sole breadwinner of a family, a mother or father with young kids who need the parents. How do we compensate for such losses and what do we say to families who experience loss of a loved one or active and productive citizen of the Malaysian workforce?

Again, as the president of a consumer organisation and who haa been actively monitoring public transport quality of service, I am truly and utterly disappointed with both the operators and regulators for their inaction in improving safety of the very lives of people who they depend on for their own livelihood and business sustainability.

Regulators such as Spad must come down hard on poor service quality and weed out all errant bus operators though active surveillance and rapid response to complaints. Spad should also employ means of receiving complaints - if possible in real time. Speed records should be captured the minute speed limits are breached.

We hope the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards for busses are widely enforced especially on anchorage, superstructure and seat belts for passengers. We need clear, transparent and efficient mechanism to compensate passengers who suffer losses in terms of loss of lives, disabilities, loss of working time and delay accordingly.

Close to 2000 people are killed daily globally in road accidents and in Malaysia the death rates are 23.6/100000 in 2015, among the highest in South-East Asia. According to the transport minister, statistics showed that 6,706 lives were lost in about 489,600 road accidents in 2015. This is 32 deaths more than the figure recorded in 2014.

We need to put a stop to the unnecessary loss of lives and limbs with more responsible and accountable public transport operators and improved enforcement.

It is my sincere hope that the general public as consumers assert their rights to safer and accountable public transport system by choosing express bus operators with impeccable safety performance. Relevant government agencies should respect consumer rights to fair and transparent information to help consumer choose the right service providers.

PROFESSOR DR MARIMUTHU NADASON is president, Malaysian Association of Standards Users.