E-Roads Platform Supports Road Safety Agenda, Advancing Malaysia’s Competitiveness

3 July 2025, Kuala Lumpur – The Chemical Productivity Nexus (CPN) is an industry-driven platform guided by the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), committed to advancing safety, operational efficiency, and competitiveness across multiple sectors. By working closely with industry stakeholders, CPN supports sector-wide transformation through a focus on regulatory improvements, digital innovation, and robust public-private collaboration delivering forward-thinking and sustainable safety solutions.

Following the Gerik highway tragedy, where a university-chartered bus collided with a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), claiming 15 student lives and injuring 33 others, CPN expresses deep concern over the growing threats to road safety in Malaysia. This incident is not isolated. Between January and October 2024, Malaysia recorded 532,125 road accidents and 5,364 deaths. A crash occurred every 50 seconds, and one life was lost approximately every two hours.

Common causes include driver fatigue, speeding, vehicle unfitness, and road environments. Public transport accidents raise alarm over the consistency and depth of driver monitoring and vehicle maintenance across the sector. The recent spike in fatalities, including during festive periods, underscores the urgency for preventative action.

MPC through CPN welcomes the Ministry of Transport’s recent announcement to develop a centralised database for tracking bus drivers, which aligns with Malaysia’s commitment to improve public transport safety and meet the goals of the National Transport Policy 2019 –2030. For such initiatives to be effective, they must be proactive, data-driven, and collaborative across agencies and industries.

As part of industry-led safety efforts, CPN has long supported e-Roads, a digital compliance platform developed in 2016 by the chemical logistics sector. e-Roads is a cloud-based system that tracks over 2,000 drivers and 900 heavy vehicles, maintaining shared driver records and integrating gate control to block unfit operators. It promotes accountability by ensuring driver histories follow them across employers. In its first year, 14% of entries were rejected due to non-compliance, with improved safety outcomes observed over time.

Building on these results, MPC and CPN, together with relevant ministries and agencies, are piloting a data-sharing initiative between e-Roads and public regulators. The goal is to enable real-time verification of driver license status, blacklist records, and permit compliance, to further strengthen commercial vehicle oversight in an integrated, technology-enabled manner.

Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Noor Sany, Champion of CPN, emphasised, “The safety of our roads must never be taken lightly. What we’ve learned through the chemical sector’s digital compliance tools can and should be applied more broadly.”

Datuk Zahid Ismail, Director General of MPC, stated, “This is about building a system that acts before an accident happens. We must prioritise safety with the same urgency as we do productivity.”

Malaysia’s recent climb to 23rd place in the World Competitiveness Ranking 2025 reflects its reform momentum. However, road safety must keep pace. CPN believes that national-level integration of data and accountability across transport sectors is key to preventing the next tragedy.

As Malaysia advances in global rankings, the nation must also lead in protecting its roads, its people, and its future.

End of Release.

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