While PDRM has said that government vehicles using beacons and sirens must prioritise other road users’ safety, this hasn’t always been the case, and road safety experts say that the rules governing the use of sirens and beacon lights by emergency vehicles and VIP escorts are in need a review, with a clear, uniform criteria on when these can be activated, who can authorise their use and under what circumstances.
They said that escort movements must be made safer and more predictable for other road users, with standard procedures covering speed, lane changes, overtaking and intersections, while giving motorists enough time to react. More importantly, they stated that such privileges should be treated as an operational necessity, not an automatic entitlement based on rank or status, the New Straits Times reports.
According to Universiti Putra Malaysia road safety research centre head, associate professor Law Teik Hua, the review should examine how escort movements are conducted, as the main hazard was not the sirens or escort vehicles themselves, but how priority movements were carried out.
Law said that while sirens and beacons indicate that emergency and escort vehicles had priority, drivers could still be unaware of their presence until the last moment. “This is especially dangerous at intersections, where ordinary drivers might not realise where the escort car is coming from or whether there are other vehicles that have been stopped,” he said.
He said a dedicated standard operating procedure would be the most effective way to improve VIP and emergency movements. The SOP should specify when sirens and beacons can be used, permissible speed limits, procedures for lane changes and overtaking as well as mandatory speed reductions at intersections and crossings.
Road Safety Council member and social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye echoed the call for a full review of the rules. He said concerns regarding this were justified, as VIP escorts and certain emergency vehicles often moved on the roads in ways that put other drivers at risk. As a result, he said that drivers have to brake hard, swerve into crowded lanes, or slow down suddenly, often with barely enough time to react safely.
“It is even more worrying when sirens and beacon lights are treated not as urgent warnings, but as a free pass. Some drivers seem to think that with a siren, speed limits do not matter and red lights need not be obeyed. They expect every other road user to get out of the way instantly, without thinking about road conditions or other people’s safety,” he said.
Lee said that while most agree that the prime minister, royalty and official foreign guests deserved such escorts, their use should be an exception rather than a right for ministers and senior officials.”These are safety tools, not symbols of status,” he said.
“No one is above the law. A siren does not cancel traffic rules, and a flashing light does not make safety less important. Every road user, no matter their rank, deserves to travel safely, and every road user must drive with care,” he added.
Senior criminologist Datuk Dr P. Sundramoorthy proposed a three-tier framework covering security, operational necessity and ceremonial or protocol movements, with traffic priority normally limited to the first two when objectively justified.
He said that while the law regulated the fitting and use of special warning lights, with authorised categories specified, there is an important distinction between being authorised to possess or use an emergency warning device and being justified in activating it for a particular journey. “Rank alone should not create an automatic entitlement,” he said, adding that protection did not necessarily require sirens and flashing lights on every journey.
