Private Vehicle Roadworthiness in Malaysia from the Vehicle Inspection Perspective

Vehicle defect is one of the contributing factors of road mishaps, although the magnitude of the problem is less prominent compared to human behaviour or road environment factors. What is more important is that this technical problem may find a more direct solution as opposed to human behavioural issues. This study aims to discuss common vehicle defects that probably contribute to road crashes by using Periodical Technical Inspection (PTI) database as the basis. Data was analysed to determine common failures of private passenger vehicles based on selected inspections and vehicle types. At this stage, only voluntary and routine inspections were scrutinized. In addition, this study is able to predict the probability of a vehicle failure by using information from the database. From such an analysis, it was found that the two most common private passenger vehicle defects were worn out tire (or lack of tread) and structural integrity. It was also found that vehicles sent for voluntary inspection have a higher probability of failure compared to those sent for routine inspection.