Gerakan wants the government to intensify enforcement to ensure passenger safety on public vehicles, especially express buses, in view of the rush to return home to celebrate the Chinese New Year festival.

Gerakan’s head of central bureau on public health and social development, Datuk Dr Ng Keong Chye, said the safety of passengers is of paramount importance and there should be all-out efforts to reduce and prevent highway accidents.

Ng, who is also Pahang’s Ketari State Assemblyman, urged the authorities concerned to ensure that only well-maintained and road-worthiness buses are allowed on the road.

“Reckless drivers, especially the repeated offenders and those who have been fined or have been issued more than five summonses, should not be allowed to drive the buses,” he said in a statement.

Dr Ng said all quarters, including motorists, have the responsibility to help reduce and prevent accidents.

He also reiterated Gerakan’s call for heavy punishment against public bus companies or operators when their drivers and buses were involved in road accidents that caused deaths and serious injuries.

He said they must take full responsibility to what happened to their buses and drivers involved in accidents.

“We also hope that with stepped-up road safety campaigns, the number of road accidents will decrease drastically,” he added.

Ng also urged the police to step up patrols and increase anti-crime beats in housing areas.