Malaysia cracks down on unsafe express buses, including to Singapore. Is it enough?

24/02/2026 4 Views

“It will not only be through traditional roadblocks, but also plainclothes officers boarding buses,” Loke reportedly said.

“Enforcement is not meant to be punitive but to safeguard the industry’s future. If we want to grow and gain public confidence, operators must cooperate and ensure safety standards are upheld.”

SAFETY MEASURES

While transport experts, operators and express bus passengers welcomed the new measures, pointing to some improvement in safety standards, they said more could be done.

Last June, local newspaper Utusan Malaysia reported that 38 accidents involving buses took place in the first five months of 2025, citing police statistics.

There were 104 bus accidents in 2023, before this figure fell to 61 accidents in 2024, the report said.

In the 203 bus accidents reported from 2023 to May 2025, 39 deaths, 68 major injuries and 197 minor injuries were recorded.

Factors contributing to accidents include exceeding the speed limit, improper maintenance, mechanical failures, and pressure from operators, police analysis showed.

Rahman told CNA the tougher measures reflected a “genuine attempt to course correct”, but remain piecemeal rather than structural.

For instance, he said the driver database lacks “teeth” in terms of forcing greater compliance, as he called for the system to be linked to real-time monitoring of express bus drivers.

On Jan 21, Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) said the database will hold records on over 60,000 bus and lorry company operators and indicate whether their drivers are eligible to be on the road.

The database, expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2027, will be linked to agencies like the Royal Malaysia Police, National Anti-Drug Agency and JPJ.

Rahman said the database should be linked to fatigue detection and GPS tracking systems in buses, with mandatory rest compliance alerts and automated flagging when a driver exceeds their permitted working hours.

“The technology exists; several countries already mandate it. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Driver fatigue is a main cause of serious road crashes, said Suret Singh from the Road Safety Council of Malaysia, adding that authorities should also ensure that replacement drivers are well-rested and fit to drive.

He feels JPJ should be more flexible in enforcing the second driver rule by letting express buses without sleeper cabins switch drivers at approved locations, instead of just checking if both drivers are on the bus.

“Having a second driver onboard a bus without a proper sleeper cabin causes fatigue to the second driver without proper rest and a place to sleep,” Suret told CNA.

He said the Malaysian authorities, however, “deserve due credit” for firmly implementing seatbelt wearing compliance in express buses, suggesting that this will help reduce serious injuries and deaths in crashes by at least 50 per cent.

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