Friday, 1 August 2014

Road accidents mount regardless

PETALING JAYA: Despite all the proactive measures put in place by the traffic police, there were some 10,349 road accidents reported nationwide during the balik kampung exodus this year.

Federal Traffic chief SAC Mohd Fuad Abdul Latiff said the figures were based on the data collected by the police under the "Ops Selamat" since its launch on July 21 and Monday.

"Of the total, 127 accidents were fatal accidents, which led to the death of 139 people," he said this in a statement.

Since July 21, Mohd Fuad said, they had issued 117,957 summonses with 1,598 for driving in the emergency lanes.

"We have yet to compare with the statistics of last year as we are still in the midst of collecting data from all over the country," he added.

He also said that 19,421 houseowners have informed their nearest police stations of them leaving their homes unattended.

"Our police patrol team are on their rounds at housing estates to ensure there are no break-ins," he added.

With the public holidays over, many of those who returned to their kampungs are back on the road to return home.

According to highway authorities, the traffic congestion along several highways were slowly building up, especially from Johor, Penang and East Coast to Kuala Lumpur.

Rain in certain parts of the country had also slowed down the traffic.

Sunday, 20 July 2014

It is often said that Malaysians are bad drivers. Statistics are now proving it to be true.
The World Health Ranking 2011 has ranked Malaysia at number 20 in its list of countries with the most deaths caused by road accidents.
Road traffic accidents have also been identified as the leading cause of death in Malaysia, after coronary/heart disease, stroke, influenza and pneumonia.
Research by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros) showed that an average of of 18 people were killed on Malaysian roads daily.
The figure is expected to rise to 29 by 2020.
Miros’ research predicted that road fatalities would account for 10,716 deaths in 2020 compared with an average of 6,915 annual deaths in recent years.
Not surprisingly, motorcyclists account for 60 per cent (4,149) of the total number of deaths.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi highlighted the severity of the statistics at the launch of the 16th edition of Yamaha’s “Balik Kampung Road Safety Campaign” here yesterday.
He said the figures were alarming considering that the government strove to improve road safety through advocacy programmes organised with help from the Road Transport Department (RTD), police and Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).
Abdul Aziz said there might come a point in time where stricter vehicle ownership rules could be enforced to reduce the number of vehicles on the road in a bid to lower the number of fatalities.
“Restrictions in vehicle ownership may solve the problem, but we are not at that stage yet.
“The scenario will only benefit us in the near future, where our public transportation system is operating at the highest level,” he said.
Statistics show the number of fatalities in Malaysia is increasing yearly, with the total number of accidents increasing by 80 per cent from the period between 2001 and 2013.

SOURCE: NEW STRAITS TIMES | PAGE: 4 | JULY 9, 2014