SHAH ALAM, 28 July: The government has been asked to find more effective methods to reduce road accidents, especially during festive seasons where a relative high death toll is recorded.
The Vice Chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, said that the statistics clearly show that there has been no drastic drop in accident and death rates despite countless efforts carried out by the government.
“For example, last year, there were 6,915 road accident fatalities, a slight drop from 6,917 deaths in 2012
“Even though there was a small drop and the number of deaths over the past two years exceeds 6,000 people, the figure is still high,” he said, quoted from Bernama.
Therefore, Lee proposed the government step up further the enforcement of road regulations for bigger impact on road users.
Lee said the attitude of motorists was the main contributor to the high accident rate and they should be educated and reminded of their responsibility when on the road.
“Awareness campaigns should be intensified and made continuous, and not just during festive seasons to get the people to adhere to road regulations,” he said.
According to him, road accident statistics provided by the Road Safety Department showed 477,204 accidents were recorded last year, which was higher than 462,423 in 2012 and 449,040 in 2011.
Last year, there were 34,118 accidents during the two main festivals, namely Chinese New Year and Aidilfitri which took 486 lives.
NS
