KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced on Monday a slew of measures to improve safety regulations for lorries and buses following a deadly crash that killed seven people in December last year.

A detached lorry wheel was said to be behind the five-vehicle collision that killed seven people in December, including five family members. It was one of the deadliest road accidents in 2024, but came from a long line of incidents involving heavy vehicles.

Here are some of the key measures Loke announced to address the problem:

Task force with mandate to take immediate measures

Few details were given about the composition of the task force itself apart from it being led by the Ministry of Transport’s secretary-general, Datuk Jana Santhiran Muniayan.

However, the task force is unusual in the sense that it has the power to compel agencies under the MoT to implement what Loke called "immediate measures” that could improve compliance among transport companies.

The minister did not elaborate on what these measures are.

Integrated collaboration and digitalisation

Loke said among the ministry’s focus this year is enhancing collaboration among all the enforcement agencies under the MoT such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ), Land Road Transport Agency (Apad), as well as others including the police and the National Anti-Drugs Agency.

There is also the plan to roll out the "High Speed – Weigh in Motion” by this year. The HS-WIM system, according to Loke, is far more effective in detecting trucks or buses carrying loads beyond what is permitted.

Using a computer and a scanning system, the operators would be immediately alerted if a heavy vehicle is overloaded once it passes through the sensor. Once identified all parties involved will be issued a hefty fine.

This makes enforcement easier because currently identifying overloaded lorries or buses require manual checks by RTD officers, and then brought to nearby stations to be weighed, which makes the process more tedious.

Amending laws to increase penalties

Two laws will be reviewed are the Road Transport Act 1987 and the Land Public Transport Act 2010, with the aim of raising penalties for violations.

How much the rate of increase be is unclear but it is likely the minister will want deterrent punishments.

But the minister did reveal a plan to punish load consignees as well, suggesting they bear some responsibility for the accidents involving overloaded trucks. Loke said truck companies are sometimes forced to take on extra loads because consignees are able to exploit competition to squeeze logistic operators.

Liberalising inspection work

Currently, all road transport inspection work is done by Puspakom, making it effectively a monopoly.

Loke said this has exposed inspection work, which is crucial to ensure all road vehicles meet safety standards, to corruption. Puspakom officers have been repeatedly accused of taking bribes from logistic companies wishing to evade inspection as they skimmed on repair and maintenance works to cut costs.

Liberalising this means there will be a few more companies that will compete to provide the best inspection services, at least in theory. Loke said he expects some of these companies to start operating by this year.

Having several inspection service points can also help shift away pressure from Puspakom, which may be dealing with long backlogs seeing that it’s only inspectors around.

Closing loopholes

Loke previously said authorities were aware of loopholes abused by transport operators to circumvent regulations, such as renting tyres to pass mandatory vehicle inspections.

He said his ministry and the Home Affairs Ministry were working on addressing the "gaps” in the law.

He added that the ministry will also collaborate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to identify other areas where abuses could occur to allow such practices to continue.