KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The Road Transport Department (RTD) will soon have a new section focusing on profiling drivers according to their driving behaviour which has been found to be the main cause of road accidents.
Its deputy director-general Datuk Yusoff Ayob said this was part of the plans to reduce road mishaps in hilly areas such as Genting Highlands.
The transport ministry held a special meeting to discuss the setting up of the section in November last year, following the bus accident at Km3.5 of the Kuala Lumpur-Genting Highlands road which killed 37 people on August 8.
Besides drivers’ profiling, the section will initiate strategic placement of RTD and Puspakom personnel to facilitate physical and technical inspections on buses as well as stricter enforcement on bus drivers to ensure appropriate fitness level and zero drugs and alcohol influence.
Yusoff said there would also be a revamp of driving schools’ instructional curriculum, to take effect within the next three months.
“It should have been launched in April, but there were several details to be finalised and there were technical setbacks with the module printing processes,” Yusoff told a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman yesterday.
Bukit Aman traffic chief SAC Mohd Fuad Abd Latiff said no fatal accidents were recorded in the vicinity of Genting Highlands from February to April, which was the period of an integrated operation every year.
“There was only one minor accident during the operation, bringing together the efforts of police, RTD, Public and Land Transport Commission (SPAD), Puspakom, Department of Environment and the National Anti-Drugs Agency,” he said.
Mohd Fuad said the joint operation would monitor bus condition and the drivers to be up to mark at all times.
This year, 2,668 summonses were issued, with 1,957 of them related to improper number plates.
“A total of 44 out of 439 individuals checked were tested positive for drugs, while three were found to have arrest warrants issued on their names for previous traffic offences.”
He said Puspakom checked 965 vehicles, while SPAD issued notices to 147 drivers during the three-month operation.
