I was taken aback when I read this. An article focuses on the accident of a motorcyclist from Johor whose death was caused by a pothole. Not just any regular pothole, mind you, but this one was considered a 'winner' by comparison to any potholes that I have seen so far; it was as wide as a manhole and nearly two inches deep. Subsequently after hitting the massive pothole, the motorcyclist was thrown off his vehicle due to the strong and sudden impact. He sustained major head injuries and passed away on the way to the hospital.
It is shocking to learn that, what may seem like a harmless everyday pothole is in fact capable of taking a human life. Now that the unlikely has been realised, the issue at hand is who is responsible for the loss of a life should legal proceedings be taken? What about the ordeal that the next of kin of the deceased has to undergo? Does the department responsible for the maintenance of roads bear a certain duty to ensure road safety qualities? Someone must pay - but who? The answer is obvious, as I have duly posted some time ago.
The government, specifically the Public Works Department, should be held liable because they are the ones responsible for the planning, building and maintaining of roads in Malaysia. As such, they would have been directly aware on the dangers of substandard roads, as well as, the dangers that it may pose to road users. There is a standard of care to ensure that the roads are safe for use by motorists. However, what seems to be presented before us, is the fact that, the PWD has fallen miserably below that standard of care that it was entrusted with. And because of the failure to ensure the stipulated standard, a life has been taken. In other words, the PWD has directly caused the death of an innocent road user.
After visiting the PWD's website, it is repulsive to read their statement of visions and missions. In one section it states, 'We will be the centre of excellence for infrastructure development by harnessing creative and innovative human capital and state-of-the-art technology'. Pursuant to the tragic accident, does this statement still stand? The department's apparent ineffectuality to curb the pothole epidemic in the country is a far cry from being 'the centre of excellence for infrastructure development'.
How many more lives must be sacrificed for the Public Work's Department, or more specifically the government, to buckle up? I may lack the knowledge of the government's current financial standing, but from what I have been reading, we seem to have many to spend. Amid the ongoing 'Visit Malaysia Year 2007', must we truly be stumped by this pothole epidemic? I cannot even begin to imagine the poor impressions that we are leaving the tourists on our substandard level of infrastructure.
It is shocking to learn that, what may seem like a harmless everyday pothole is in fact capable of taking a human life. Now that the unlikely has been realised, the issue at hand is who is responsible for the loss of a life should legal proceedings be taken? What about the ordeal that the next of kin of the deceased has to undergo? Does the department responsible for the maintenance of roads bear a certain duty to ensure road safety qualities? Someone must pay - but who? The answer is obvious, as I have duly posted some time ago.
The government, specifically the Public Works Department, should be held liable because they are the ones responsible for the planning, building and maintaining of roads in Malaysia. As such, they would have been directly aware on the dangers of substandard roads, as well as, the dangers that it may pose to road users. There is a standard of care to ensure that the roads are safe for use by motorists. However, what seems to be presented before us, is the fact that, the PWD has fallen miserably below that standard of care that it was entrusted with. And because of the failure to ensure the stipulated standard, a life has been taken. In other words, the PWD has directly caused the death of an innocent road user.
After visiting the PWD's website, it is repulsive to read their statement of visions and missions. In one section it states, 'We will be the centre of excellence for infrastructure development by harnessing creative and innovative human capital and state-of-the-art technology'. Pursuant to the tragic accident, does this statement still stand? The department's apparent ineffectuality to curb the pothole epidemic in the country is a far cry from being 'the centre of excellence for infrastructure development'.
How many more lives must be sacrificed for the Public Work's Department, or more specifically the government, to buckle up? I may lack the knowledge of the government's current financial standing, but from what I have been reading, we seem to have many to spend. Amid the ongoing 'Visit Malaysia Year 2007', must we truly be stumped by this pothole epidemic? I cannot even begin to imagine the poor impressions that we are leaving the tourists on our substandard level of infrastructure.
