13 Nov
Congratulations to the Ministry of Communications’ (MoC) Land Transport Department (LTD) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) for having initiated the training course for driving instructors in Brunei and for planning courses for school bus drivers respectively.
“Driving instructors back to school” (The Brunei Times, Jan 12, 2011) reports that the first batch of driving instructors from eight driving schools in the Sultanate have begun the five-day course beginning Tuesday. The course, according to the agreement signed between the LTD and Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd signed in late November last year, will be provided to instructors of all 76 driving schools in Brunei.
This move to train and certify the trainers will in turn ensure that training of consistent high quality will be provided to learner drivers which should translate to better safety on Bruneian roads. Course participants were reportedly impressed with the contents of the five-day courses which will end in April.
The contents include key features such as emergency braking awareness, defensive driving and maintaining the right driver attitude besides instilling awareness of the importance of vehicle maintenance to ensure that they do not contribute to road accidents.Besides the LTD, the Ministry of Education has also shown interest in road safety — “School bus drivers to take training?” (The Brunei Times, Jan 12, 2011). According to the report, the MoE is in talks with Megamas to provide a driving course for school bus drivers which is expected to focus on the defensive driving component.
Transport companies should also consider providing similar training to drivers of their commercial vehicles. Such a comprehensive approach will enable Brunei to set global standards for safety on the roads. Brunei already has the distinction of being number one in terms of road safety in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with 1.8 deaths per 10,000 vehicles (Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2010). In this respect, Malaysia is last with 3.7 deaths per 10,000 vehicles.
With the successful conclusion of Brunei’s Road Safety Action Plan (2005-2010) which is part of an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-Asean strategy, Asean has begun preparations for the Asean Regional Road Safety Strategy Plan 2011-2020. The 16th Asean Transport Ministers’ Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan on November 11 last year expressed the need to address pressing road safety issues in member states. It has called on the Asean Multisectoral Road Safety Special Working Group to prepare the strategic framework for cooperation and guidelines for the 2011-2020 plan. As for plans to complete the Asean Highway, the Ministers agreed to upgrade the Asean Transit Transport Routes and to install common road signs and safety furniture on all designated roads.
The International Transport Forum study of 33 countries over the first decade of this century showed big drops in road fatalities in 30 of countries studied. Nevertheless, WHO reports there are over a million road fatalities annually, most of which can be avoided. Brunei, with its impressive record, should also focus on providing better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.
The Brunei Times
Thursday, January 13, 2011