UK tourist raises safety concerns over coach driver’s behaviour
A retired UK citizen has raised concerns over alleged unsafe driving practices during a journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (KL) on 20 Dec.
Nick, 68, told MS News that the incidents occurred on board a coach operated by Qistna Express.
Video courtesy of Nick.
“I recently took a coach journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur,” Nick said.
“The driver was quite unprofessional, using a mobile phone, not sitting properly in his seat, et cetera.”
Trip delayed, driver uses phone during journey
The bus was scheduled to depart at 9am from Bugis MRT Exit D, near The Snooze Hotel, with drop-off at Nu Sentral Shopping Mall in KL.
According to Nick, they were told that the original coach broke down, and so a replacement bus arrived at about 9.45am instead.
Image courtesy of Nick.
The replacement coach belongs to M.V.S Travel & Tours SDN BHD, he said.
Nick added that he was unaware of the driver’s name.
Image courtesy of Nick.
Nick said he noticed the driver engaging in unsafe behaviour at multiple points along the journey.
“I was sitting in aisle seat row 1 so I had clear vision,” he said.
“I started to notice the behaviour and thought maybe it was just an isolated incident.”
However, he found the repeated behaviour unacceptable after a while.
According to Nick, the driver used his mobile phone while driving and was at times not sitting properly in his seat.
Video courtesy of Nick.
He said the behaviour did not occur continuously, but happened at different points throughout the journey.
“Not at all times, but definitely over different points of the whole journey,” added Nick.
Passenger allegedly had to wake driver at Causeway jam
Nick also recounted an incident while the coach was stuck at the Causeway during heavy traffic.
“While waiting at the Causeway immigration due to a jam, we were not moving,” he said.
“A passenger behind him had to knock his seat to wake him to start moving.”
Video courtesy of Nick.
The incident further heightened his concerns, especially given his awareness of past coach accidents in Malaysia.
“I am aware of several accidents on the Malaysian highways,” Nick said.
“Having seen so many horrible accidents through the news I read, I felt it was my duty to bring this to somebody’s attention.”
Source: Sin Chew Daily on Facebook. Image for illustration purposes only.
Nick added that there were other issues with his booking that day, such as the old condition of the coach and not receiving the solo seat he requested.
However, he described those issues as “irrelevant” to the main issue of unsafe driving.
“All of that to me was irrelevant,” said Nick.
“The only reason I ever brought this to anybody’s attention is the safety aspect.”
The coach eventually arrived in KL at about 9pm on 20 Dec, meaning that the driver and the bus passengers had been on the road for more than 11 hours.
MS News has reached out to Qistina Express, which said that they are looking into the matter.
MS News has also reached out to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) for comment.
Also read: Tour bus in Thailand crashes into lorry, causes 6-car pileup with at least 10 injured
Tour bus in Thailand crashes into lorry, causes 6-car pileup with at least 10 injured
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Featured image courtesy of Nick.
