Bus Company Allegedly Overworks Driver & Orders Him To "Drive Slowly" To Fight Sleepiness
The bus driver ended up forking out RM80 of his own money to ask passengers to take a Grab to their destination.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 18 May 2023, 01:02 PM
A bus driver for long-haul trips across Peninsular Malaysia was allegedly forced to overwork, causing him to have little to no sleep for six days, gravely jeopardising the safety of his passengers as a result
Sharing the bus driver's alleged plight on Sunday, 14 May, passenger Shu Ling said in a Facebook post that she was initially angry that the driver irresponsibly risked passengers' lives with his sleep deprivation.
But as she came to learn about his alleged exploitative employer, she then blamed the bus company for the poor management.
Shu Ling told SAYS she was travelling alone from Johor to Perak, as she was heading to Thailand to meet her family for a holiday.
She bought a bus ticket with a departure time of 10.30pm, but the bus only arrived at 2am.
Upon boarding, she took a nap before waking up at 5am to check where she was.
To her surprise, she realised that the bus had not travelled far as it seemed to be driving languidly at a speed of 30kmph
Shu Ling said every passenger was asleep at the time.
She suspected something was amiss with the driver because the bus had swayed to the right lane at one point, causing a vehicle to honk at it.
Following that, she confirmed to herself that the driver must be feeling sleepy.
"Seeing the driver driving at that (slow) speed and not sticking to his lane, I grew nervous and dared not sleep. I kept watching and felt like we almost got into an accident a few times," said the beauty entrepreneur.
After a while, the bus driver told the passengers that he could no longer stay awake and asked whether he could take a 30-minute nap, to which the passengers agreed
The bus driver felt better after resting, but by 8am, he started to drive dangerously again.
"An aunty who just woke up also noted that the bus driver was driving dangerously. She was with a three-year-old child (at the time)," Shu Ling shared.
"So, we asked the driver to stop to change to another driver and found out that there was only one driver on the bus. Long-distance buses actually require two drivers! We felt also helpless.
"Not long after, the driver called another bus driver to take over and help pick up the passengers. In the end, (most) passengers on the bus changed to another bus," she recounted.
However, Shu Ling had to remain on the bus along with two other passengers, as the new bus could not take her to her destination
She checked that she was 30 minutes away from her destination, which was closer than Sitiawan, Perak, where the other two passengers were heading.
Even though it was the last stretch of the journey, the bus driver said he could not keep himself going for an additional 45 minutes until they arrived at Sitiawan.
Hence, he suggested paying RM80 to the two passengers for them to take a Grab to Sitiawan.
Then, he offered to give Shu Ling a ride to her closer destination, which he could manage.
"We all agreed for the sake of our safety," Shu Ling said.
"With a bit of distance left, I sat in front of the bus to strike up a conversation with the bus driver.
"The driver said that he hadn't slept for six days other than taking one to two hours of naps a day. The driver said that he had reached the point where he felt as if there was a road ahead even though there was none. The more I heard it, the more scared I became.
"The driver also asked us, 'Am I on the way to the motorcycle lane?' and 'Are there traffic lights ahead?'," she added.
Shu Ling was infuriated after hearing about how fatigued the bus driver was
"I asked the driver why he was pushing himself to such an extent and risking the lives of the whole bus with his own! This way I can file a complaint or report the situation to the Ministry of Human Resources.
"He told us that he had already driven a very-long-distance bus for nearly 10 hours yesterday, and he also paid the last passenger yesterday to take a Grab. Then, he picked us up at 2am.
"The driver said that he told his boss earlier that he was very tired and could no longer send passengers of this bus to their destinations, but the company replied that it was possible and asked the driver to drive slowly.
"The driver told the company many times that he couldn't drive, but they asked him to persist. Because of public holidays, there may be a shortage of manpower. Even with that said, shouldn't the company take the bus drivers' health conditions into account while adjusting their working hours?" she said.
Shu Ling sympathised with the bus driver by the end, describing him as "sleepwalking" while steering the wheel.
She then recalled the recent accident involving a bus and nine vehicles near Kuala Kangsar, Perak. The beauty entrepreneur said she hopes the issue can be resolved quickly before more tragedies occur.
At the time of writing, Shu Ling's post has gone viral with over 3,700 shares. You can read the full post here.
SAYS has reached out to the bus company for a statement, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
