M’sia Bus Driver Dozes Off While Driving, Company Allegedly Told Him To Work Despite Fatigue

Bus Driver Dozes Off While Driving, Allegedly Exhausted From Continuous Trips

When going on long journeys via bus, most passengers take naps with full trust in their drivers to safely ferry them to their destinations.

However, one driver in Malaysia was caught dozing off at the wheel while driving a bus full of passengers from Johor Bahru to Perak.

A passenger took to Facebook to share an account of her potentially perilous journey and expressed concern over the long hours the bus driver was allegedly asked to work despite his fatigue.

Bus driver dozes off while driving from Johor Bahru to Perak

In the Facebook post, the OP said she boarded a bus bound for Perak in JB at about 2am.

However, at about 5am, she awoke from a nap and found that the bus was moving at an alarmingly low speed of only about 30km/h on the highway, swaying left to right a little.

The OP claimed that the bus was moving so slowly that a vehicle behind even honked at the bus at one point.

“The bus also veered towards the extreme left sometimes. Then it would move towards the right side. There were also times that the bus seemed like it was going to stop completely in the middle of the road,” she wrote.

Concerned, the OP and other passengers asked the driver to take a 30-minute break before continuing the journey for safety.

But the driver continued to drive dangerously after taking a short rest.

After the driver contacted a colleague to take over his duties, most passengers were transferred to a different bus. Three remaining passengers, including the OP, did not change buses as the alternate route would not pass their stops.

The OP noted that the driver seemed tired to “a scary extent”, where he had to ask the passengers where the roads were and if there were traffic lights ahead.

The driver continued taking multiple breaks by the road mid-journey, lengthening what would have been a 10-minute journey to half an hour.

After reaching the OP’s destination, she said the bus driver asked the remaining two passengers to take a Grab for their safety. He also offered to pay for the passengers’ Grab fees.

Company allegedly told driver to work when he gave feedback about his fatigue

In her conversation with the driver, the OP learnt that he had not rested well for the past six days. He said he only had about one to two hours of sleep per day.

He had also driven for over 10 hours the previous day, contributing to his fatigue.

The driver claimed that he had feedbacked to the company about his exhaustion, and told them he was not in any condition to drive.

However, the company reportedly responded by telling him to drive slowly. The OP speculated that this could have been caused by a shortage of drivers due to the public holidays, and expressed empathy towards the driver.

Nevertheless, she emphasised that such dangerous driving should not have been allowed in the first place.

MS News has reached out to the bus company for comment.

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Featured image adapted from Facebook.