Expert: Bus Rollover Tests Must Be Mandatory

An engineering expert is calling for urgent reforms to Malaysia’s bus safety rules, warning that outdated designs and weak oversight are endangering passengers. His comments follow a crash involving a Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) chartered bus that killed 15 students, reigniting public concern over bus safety.

Professor Dr Zaini Ahmad, Dean of the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, pointed to several critical flaws in bus design and regulatory oversight. One major concern, he said, is the continued use of a four-seat row layout in many buses.

“The four-seat row formation reduces the survivability space and lowers the chance of passengers surviving a crash compared to a three-seat layout, which is more commonly used in express buses,” he explained.

Dr Zaini also criticised the materials used in many bus seat frames, describing them as rigid and potentially harmful during collisions. He advocated for the use of more flexible materials capable of absorbing impact energy, which he believes could help reduce the severity of injuries.

Beyond seat design, the professor highlighted a deeper structural issue, the lack of mandatory rollover crash testing. He noted that many buses are approved for use based on certified joint structure designs, without undergoing full-scale rollover tests.

“Some bus manufacturers rely only on the approval of joint structure designs to meet regulatory requirements, without having to conduct actual rollover tests, which are more costly,” he said.

While the Economic Commission for Europe Regulation 66 (ECE-R66) outlines standards for structural integrity during rollovers, Malaysia does not currently require buses to pass such tests if their joints have already been certified. Dr Zaini believes this loophole undermines passenger safety.

He further stressed that these shortcomings must be addressed through both regulatory reform and better enforcement.

Strengthening public transport safety, he said, must involve mandatory rollover testing, safer seat designs, greater seatbelt use, and stronger enforcement paired with road safety education to help save lives

Source: New Straits Times