PUTRAJAYA, Oct 31 — The main cause of the deadly crash involving a gravel-laden lorry and a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck in Teluk Intan on May 13 this year was due to the lorry exceeding 70 per cent of its permissible laden weight (BDM).
The Transport Ministry (MOT) said that the report on the fatal collision, which occurred on Jalan Chikus-Sungai Lampam in Teluk Intan, Perak, can be accessed on its website.
“The overloading resulted in the vehicle losing control and colliding with the FRU truck, which was returning to Ipoh in a convoy,” the MOT said in a statement today.
It added that no mechanical failures were detected in the braking or steering systems, and the crash was due to operational and compliance factors, including weak internal supervision by the lorry operator and the absence of a functioning Global Positioning System (GPS).
The MOT also said 16 safety recommendations had been presented, covering six main areas, including enhancing compliance with the Industry Code of Practice for Road Transport Safety, improving the Land Public Transport Act 2010, and upgrading safety features in government vehicles such as requiring seat belts.
“This report was independently and objectively prepared by a special task force established under the Cabinet’s instruction, to identify the cause of the crash, as well as to propose improvement measures to enhance road safety in the country,” it added.
The MOT emphasised that the safety investigation was not intended to assign blame or determine liability for any party, but rather to strengthen land transport safety policies so such tragedies do not recur.
In the 8.54am crash on May 13, nine FRU personnel were killed while nine others were injured after the truck they were in collided with the tipper lorry, en route to their base in Sungai Senam, Ipoh.
