Recently, consecutive incidents of lorry tire detachment have increased road accident risks. The Malaysian Federation of Hardware, Machinery, and Building Materials Dealers believes this may be related to the misuse of non-compliant, cheap bolts flooding the market.
The federation's president, Datuk Wira Zeng Nianliang, pointed out that this might be due to the market being saturated with non-standard cheap bolts, leading to lorry tires inadvertently detaching while in motion.
“To ensure road safety and reduce the casualties caused by traffic accidents, our association urges the Road Transport Department to strictly monitor the quality of bolts used in heavy vehicle tires, preventing non-compliant bolts from entering the market."
In a statement issued on Friday, the association suggested that the government establish a standard operating procedure for lorry tire bolts, which must be certified by the Malaysian Standards and Industrial Research Institute (SIRIM), to effectively oversee their safety and production specifications, thereby improving the overall quality of bolts and road safety awareness.
“We believe that the causes of lorry tire detachment include:
1. Malicious price wars in the industry and a lack of understanding of materials, leading to the misuse of non-compliant materials in bolts.
2. Manufacturers not strictly implementing the production process of high-tensile bolts.
3. High-tensile bolts have very high standards for electroplating, or else they may fracture."
Zeng Nianliang noted that tire bolts are high-tensile products that need to comply with metal anti-aging conditions, and high-grade alloy materials must be correctly used to meet production standards.
“Therefore, every step of the production process cannot be overlooked. Our association once again urges the government to establish a rigorous SIRIM certification standard to prevent the continuous recurrence of road accident tragedies."
On December 23 last year, one of a lorry's tires detached and fell in the middle lane of a highway. The following tour bus lost control after hitting the tire and swerved into the opposite lane, subsequently crashing into a car, a tractor-trailer, and an SUV, causing 7 deaths and injuring 33 others, with varying severity.
On December 27, a tire from a large truck detached while traveling on the North-South Expressway, rolling across the highway. After hitting the central divider and rebounding to the left side of the highway, fortunately, it did not harm other vehicles and motorcycle riders.
Latest statistics show that over the past six years, there have been 3,500 traffic accidents involving lorries nationwide, resulting in 1,457 deaths, with 473 people severely injured and 1,076 slightly injured.