ANOTHER month, another commercial vehicle driver high on drugs gets caught up in a horrendous traffic accident. The only difference this time: no deaths, only serious injuries, after a lorry driver ploughed into 11 vehicles in Shah Alam.
In June, a lorry driver, also high on drugs, was involved in an accident on the Karak Expressway that left four people dead. The driver in the Shah Alam accident tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine; drugs that increase alertness and energy but cause long-term damage to the body.
Drivers turn to these stimulants to fight fatigue and endure gruelling hours with tight delivery deadlines. Drivers continue to risk lives under exploitative structures that pay per trip rather than through fixed salaries.
