Recently there have been two significant road accidents resulting in fatalities, a number of other accidents which have gone viral due to the photos highlighting the severity of the crashes. The most recent severe accident took place in Temburong on the eve of National Day, all of which have concerned our society.
Most tragic are undoubtedly the lives lost, with grieving family members left to pick themselves and move on, it leaves every Bruneian with a grim feeling, especially when we sit back and realise that many accidents can be prevented and curbed.
Sometime ago, when it was called the Ministry of Communications and not what it is today, I was in the Belait District to speak to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, after he had delivered a key note address at the launch of a programme aimed at raising the calibre of driving instructors nationwide.
It remains very firmly in my mind as its been the only time a Permanent Secretary, who had to rush back to Bandar Seri Begawan to attend to his other responsibilities, instructed me to call him in 20 mins on his personal line. He gave me his number, and departed in his official government vehicle, and the following conversation he outlined what the aim for the programme was. I was grateful that it wasn’t just lip-service or a ploy to leave me standing at the altar so to speak.
Apologizing for his haste in leaving, Dato at the time explained that the education aspect, or training the trainers, was crucial in delivering a higher standard of driver. However, he did admit that it would take time and the standards upheld in order for there to be a significant change in accidents.
My point in highlighting this isn’t to criticise or question whether or not the policy bore fruit, but rather to encapsulate what the severity of those accidents have in common.
Speed.
In my time as the motoring columnist at the Brunei Times, I had the privilege of speaking to accident investigators from the Royal Brunei Police Force, in particular when they invited Australian experts to help assist and teach them on specific aspects of understanding vehicle accidents.
It was made very clear to all, with no uncertain terms, that the number one cause of fatalities in road accidents is speed.
I go back to this simply because the images shared online show very clearly aspects of the road accidents, cars which have already been designed to crumple to reduce the impact on other vehicles, pedestrians and road users, compacted to highlight the forces involved.
In one image, a government vehicle, a Pajero, was smashed head on and the chassis clearly contorted. In another incident this week, the vehicle remained mostly in one piece, but was turfed so far away from the road and facing the opposite direction, that people wondered how it got there, another telling aspect of this accident was that there were hardly any indications or markings on the ground nearby, implications of a vehicle traveling at speed and then in the air before landing in a heap.
Just my humble opinion, but maybe we should continue with the current push to raise the calibre of drivers, while at the same time, we raise awareness and enforcement to curb the severity of these incidents.
In the past, the Ministry of Transport and Info Communications had made notable strides in doing so, alongside the Road Safety Council. Maybe it is timely for us to revisit some of the initiatives that made it such a success, and see if we can replicate it for the benefit of all road users in Brunei.