Commentary: Lorries-Safety Taking a Back Seat
Imagine driving your car down any major highway or roads and seeing a group of people sitting precariously on the back of lorries, with hardly any safety measures in place. In Singapore, this is a common sight where construction companies often ferry their workers using lorries to and fro the workers’ dormitories and the construction site. The only thing that are protecting the workers and preventing them from falling out is a short metal rail, no higher than one metre. Even so, this metal rail often look wobbly in the wind and people have doubts as to whether such a safety measure would protect the workers. Figures have shown that a total of 210 passengers on the cargo decks of lorries were injured or killed last year, up from 69 in 2005, a 300 per cent increase over 69 of 2005.
The authorities have noticed this flaw and recently put in place a set of safety guidelines which include the rails along the back of the lorries have to be raised higher, so as to protect the workers and to minimise the chance of a worker being flung out of the lorry in the case of an accident and have enforced penalties for the breaching of the rule. Personally, I do not agree with this safety method mainly of two reasons, the first being that such safety methods are ineffective and do not address the issue of protecting the workers during accidents. The second reason is that by implementing such ineffective safety measures, it only shows that the government are actually showing double standards when it comes to road safety.
The safety measures,which include raising the height of the metal rail at the back of the lorry and reducing the number of people allowed at the back of the lorry, implemented by the government are simply not effective in protecting the lives of not only the workers but also our close kin who are sitting in the back of the lorries. This measure does not fully address the need for a safer transport system when ferrying workers. The raised metal rail do not protect the workers in the case of an accident. During an accident at which the lorry is probably traveling around sixty kilometers per hour, the impact of the accident will be so great that the metal rails do not stop the passengers at the back of the lorry from being flung out of the lorry or prevent them from getting injured. When it comes to a sudden braking of the lorry, the metal rails do not protect the passengers, but endangers the lives of the passengers at the back of the lorry. The main purpose of the metal rails is to act as barrier so as to prevent passengers at the back from falling out of the lorry when on the move. It does not do enough to actually prevent the passengers from being seriously injured or from protecting them during an accident. Such measures only slightly reduce the number of deaths due to such incidents but does not fully address the need for a more effective transport system in ferrying the workers that will ensure that all lives will be encountered for during the accident. Other more effective measures such as installing seat belts or hiring a bus instead of lorries could be looked into to protect the lives of the workers. Hence, the safety measures that the government has introduced are not effective in protecting the lives of the workers during an accident and there are other more efficient methods that can be implemented.
The government has enforced rules that passengers are required to put on their seat belts in enclosed private cars. However, the government has still allowed workers to travel in open lorries with no seat belts and the only safety measure is a metal rail which does not do much in protecting the lives of the workers. This clearly shows the double standards in which the authorities are showing when it comes to road safety. An increasing number of workers are killed because of the lack of safety measures implemented and the government should enforce equivalent safety measures for foreign workers when it comes to road safety. While higher cost has been cited by both employers and the government as the main reason a safer arrangement cannot be provided, the value of one’s life would definitely far exceed the price for such measures to be implemented. If the government can make seat belts compulsory for all car passengers, the government should implement equivalent safety measures for foreign workers who have come all the way here at considerable expense to earn a living and help us build our nation. The government by implementing such measures, only displays the double standards when road safety comes into play and hence should look into better solutions to safeguard lives.
In conclusion, the safety measures to protect the workers who are ferried by lorries are ineffective as shown by the above two points and the government should look into more safer methods to solve this problem.
After all, would we have accepted such safety measures if those dead were Singaporeans? Would we not have demanded safer protection for workers on the road?
