Bernama reports that an express bus company with 232 permits may be suspended for a month due to involvement in a string of accidents since December.
Investigations on the four crashes involving buses from the same company had been completed and the committee of the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB) which was set up to investigate the mishaps will recommend to the CVLB to suspend all 232 permits of the bus company for a month.
During the suspension, the company is to rectify its weaknesses, failing which the suspension will be extended.
The four accidents involving the bus company are:
- 18 Dec 2007 - 19 people badly injured in a crash near Sungkai toll plaza along the North-South Expressway.
- 25 Jan 2008 - 3 people killed in a crash near Slim River along the North-South Expressway.
- 2 Feb 2008 - 2 people killed in a crash at KM396.7 North-South Expressway.
- 8 Apr 2008 - 1 person killed in a crash near Seremban toll plaza along the North-South Expressway.
Although the report did not mention the name of the bus company, the Slim River tragedy on 25 January was widely publicized and it was reported that the bus in the fatal crash belonged to Konsortium. Similarly, the recent crash last week was later reported to belonged to Konsortium too.
While I have not taken any ride on any Konsortium buses, I have experienced witnessing many occasions where Konsortium buses were driven recklessly on the North-South Expressway. Even when I was driving at the maximum 110kph allowed, various express buses from Konsortium managed to overtake me within seconds!
