“The lack of demand among Malaysians for safety features is the main reason why many vehicles sold in the country do not meet international safety standards”
(Just how many of the locally made cars had even passed the basic crash test with flying colours? If you know the answer, then you will know that we been screwed with unsafe cars for a very long time now but the question is who’s’ fault is it? Image source: Miros)
At first, I thought of commenting on some politicians saying that warnings of violence against another community are now a Malaysian norm but I remembered – it is coming from a Malaysian politician.
Ya, that pretty norms these days to be hearing them say warning of violence is a norm especially when they don’t seem to be doing anything to curtail it.
Then I read this:-
The lack of demand among Malaysians for safety features is the main reason why many vehicles sold in the country do not meet international safety standards, said Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) director-general Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah.
He said many Malaysians still did not bother wearing seat belts and helmets.
“There are also no regulations to ensure that vehicles sold in Malaysia must comply with international safety standards.
“This is why there are similar models of cars sold in Malaysia but their safety features are different from those in other countries like the United States,” he told a press conference after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s Research Institute of Highway here Thursday.
To prevent car manufacturers from practising such “double standards”, Dr Ahmad Farhan said the Government was constantly engaging in talks to convince them there was a growing demand for safer cars.
On why the Government did not take the initiative to make regulations that would ensure better safety features in vehicles, Dr Ahmad Farhan said: “It will take a long time before such a law can be approved in Parliament. We believe it will be more effective if we talk to manufacturers directly.
“These days, we are getting more positive response from car manufacturers,” he said.
(Source)
Revelation by the MIROS DG is nothing new – we know for a long time now that many vehicles sold in the country do not meet international safety standards, not at the price that we can afford, of course – but the sad part is his reasoning – that we Malaysians have made suckers for a long time with cheap, unsafe cars in this country because we don’t DEMAND for safer cars (what he expects us to do? Street protest on the weekends?).
Ya, I had expected something “more intelligent” from the head of the agency which looks into the safety aspect of the road users in this country but his reasoning does not hold water as well.
Firstly, he says that Malaysians are blamed on the poor quality of cars that are brought into this country. Why? Because they don’t bother wearing seat belts and helmets? If so, shouldn’t it be for the enforcement agencies in this country to enforce the law and hung them from the high pole?
That should not be the sorry excuse for the poor quality of vehicles in this country. Further, what about others who wear seat belts and helmets but had to contend with unsafe cars because they cannot afford the more expensive but safer cars?
Secondly, he argues that it is “easier” to get the manufacturers to bring in safer cars, NOT by making strict laws that enforce minimum safety specifications of vehicles in this country but rather by “engaging in talks to convince them” that there was a growing demand for safer cars.
Convince them? I could almost hear him saying that the Government is powerless against mighty & powerful car manufacturers and they have no choice but to wait and see if the car manufacturers will have change of heart to produce safer cars.
And even if the car manufacturers DO bring in safer cars, what would the cost be and how this is going to be translated to the car selling price. Already, we are paying big money unnecessarily for poorly built cars in this country compared to others in the world. To add more safety features would surely mean an increase in the cost of research & development, manufacturing and production.
Can we see cheaper but safer cars if the Government managed to convince car manufacturers that there is a demand for safer cars? You and I know that until we see the AP bullshit abolished in this country and perhaps a fairer treatment between locally made and imported cars, we are not going to see cheaper, safer cars.
And why “it will take a long time before such a law can be approved in Parliament”.
Why when the issue at hand is safety and reduction of fatality of Malaysians on the road? Is it because we have too many mindless clowns roaming the Parliament, harping on wrong issues that are facing the country?
If there is a lack of enforcement, then look on how the laws can be better enforced and if there are no relevant laws, then look at how the Parliament make the necessary laws. That should be the focus of MIROS in plugging the loopholes that cause Malaysians to continue to drive unsafe cars in this country (we yet to come to education, road conditions in this country, etc).
Not by blaming Malaysians (who may not have a say on what kind of car they can afford with their salary range) and sucking up to car manufacturers (who bottom line dictates their business direction).
In the meantime, do we need to add “safe cars” into the list of things to be protested?
Malaysian made car Proton Perdana has never passed Singapore’s safety and exhaust emission tests. That’s why, they are never sold there.
To add salt to the wound, Malaysian made cars are better built and equipped but cost less for the foreign market