Humans Aren't Cargo

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 25 May 2000. Safety labels for open-top vehicles soon? 25 May 2000 Straits Times THE Land Transport Authority will look into putting labels on open-top pickups and lorries, indicating the maximum number of passengers they can carry. It is also looking into other safety measures, including installing hand straps and handholds or using luminous tape on the backs of such vehicles. Dr John Chen, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, said this in Parliament on Tuesday. He was responding to concerns from MPs for the safety of passengers in such goods vehicles. Goods vehicles can be used to carry workers if they observe safety rules. For example, pick-up trucks must have side railings and there is a limit to the number of passengers. He said the LTA has publicised these rules and, together with the Traffic Police, has stepped up their checks against vehicles which flout the safety procedures. About ...

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 24 November 1999. 5 hurt in collision. By YEOH EN-LAI. 24 November 1999 Straits Times FIVE people were hurt, three of them seriously, in a chain collision of five heavy vehicles yesterday afternoon. It happened in heavy rain along the Kranji Expressway. On the northbound expressway, traffic tailed back for at least 5 km. From the flyover above, about 50 curious onlookers craned their necks to watch the Singapore Civil Defence Force rescuers in action. The accident happened at around 3 pm, apparently after a lorry carrying computer products stopped in the expressway's extreme left lane under the Choa Chu Kang Road flyover. A bus that ferries factory workers hit the lorry, and then three more lorries piled in. One lorry belongs to Ascent Logistics. The second was a Malaysian-registered trailer, and the last was an empty diesel truck, a 10-wheeler registered to Ming Hup Trading Co. Two people were pinned inside the cab of...

This letter was published in the Straits Times on 30 April 1999. Rules on carrying people in lorries. 30 April 1999 Straits Times Goods vehicles can be used to transport workers if the owners meet certain safety requirements. WE THANK Mr Chan Kin Seng for his feedback in "Ban people sitting in the backs of lorries" (ST, April 17). Currently, owners of goods vehicles are allowed to transport their workers on their trucks only if they can comply with a set of rules to ensure the safety of theworkers. These rules specify the manner and the conditions under which workers can be transported on a goods vehicle. There is also a 50 kmh speed limit imposed on all goods vehicles. The Land Transport Authority and Traffic Police will take enforcement action against drivers who fail to comply with the safety requirements. Drivers found flouting the rules for the first time are liable to be fined up to S$1,000 or to be jailed up to three months. Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$2,00...

The following is a letter published in the Forum page of the Straits Times on 12 July 1990. Workers squat by the road, then on open lorries 12 July 1990 Straits Times WHEN one approaches the junction of Jalan Bukit Merah and Alexandra Road in the evenings, one is likely to see groups of night-shift workers waiting to be picked up by "coverless" lorries. Normally quiet and expressionless, these workers squat by the roadside. When a lorry arrives, they would swiftly climb in and, again, take up a squatting posture. To the observer, some interesting questions arise: What happens if it rains; will they be thrown out of the lorry when there is an accident; and why can't the employer use a bus? Indeed, such a scene is increasingly incompatible with the current economic prosperity in Singapore whereworkers' welfare has improved substantially over the past three decades. Can we explain why children are being sent to schools in air-conditioned mini-buses and their fathers ...