PUTRAJAYA, Jan 6 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today a task force has been set up to enforce immediate measures to tighten regulation of heavy vehicle use on the road.
The move followed a lethal crash involving a lorry that killed seven people in December last year.
It was one of the deadliest road accidents to have happened in 2024 but among a long line of incidents caused by defective heavy vehicles.
“This task force is not for studying. This is a task force given the mandate to execute any immediate measures to make sure regulation is tightened,” Loke told reporters after delivering a new year’s address to ministry staff here.
The task force is one of several initiatives Loke unveiled as the ministry’s top agendas for 2025, following uproar over the December crash.
The Seremban MP has made road safety a key priority for all enforcement agencies under his purview as he aims to reduce the number of fatal road accidents, one of the highest in the region.
“This is our new year’s resolution,” the minister said in his address to the ministry’s staff.
A detached lorry tyre was said to be behind the five-vehicle collision that claimed seven lives in December, including those of five family members. The crash happened at KM 204 of the North-South Expressway northbound near the Ayer Keroh rest and service area.
Loke, in an immediate response, vowed to take proactive measures.
He announced more stringent steps this morning, including rolling out a sophisticated system called High-Speed Weigh-in-Motion that could scan overloaded trucks using cameras and proposed amending laws to spread the liability of an offence to consignees.
“Right now, if a truck is overloaded only the truck company is liable,” he said.
“But now we are thinking to amend the law so if a truck is overloaded, we could also pin it down to the consignee because we know they can force logistic companies to take on more than the permitted load by paying less.”
This law amendment would also entail increased penalties for overloading.
