understanding of the current scenario. In 2015,
around 33% of fatal road accidents happened on
federal roads and about 4,435 fatal accidents
happened on straight roads (PDRM Road Accident
Statistics Report). 381 fatal road accidents
occurred due to zero or insufficient street lighting,
124 cases due to slippery roads and 101 accidents
happened due to pot holes in the roads. The 2015
statistics of drivers/riders involved in fatal road
crashes by type of faults indicate that around 444
of them were speeding while driving or riding and
another 448 of them made dangerous turnings
before the crashes happened. An increase in
average speed is directly related to the probability
of an accident occurring and to the severity of the
consequences of the crash.
WHO reported that from a young age, males
are more likely to be involved in road accidents
than females (WHO Factsheet). About 73% of
all road traffic deaths occurred among men,
worldwide. Among young drivers, young males
under the age of 25 years are almost three times
as likely to be killed in a car accident as young
females. In Malaysia, road transport ranked third
for cause of death among men. In 2015, a total of
12,435 male drivers/riders were involved in fatal
road crashes while only 1,301 female drivers/
riders were involved in such cases. According to
age groups, drivers/riders aged between 15-25
years old are the largest group that were involved
in fatal accidents (3,725 accidents). and encourages a market for safer vehicles.
This programme has received support from
many agencies and car manufacturers. Apart
from this, accident investigation is also one
of the efforts taken to reduce road accidents.
From investigations, various suggestions and
improvements will be made. In addition, Safety,
Health and Environment (SHE) industrial code of
practice elements were introduced to improve
commercial bus operators’ safety.
For road intervention, the International Road
Assessment Programme has been developed
to upgrade the safety of the road environment
in low and middle income countries in order to
reduce the number of global deaths. Besides that,
the Automated Enforcement System (AES) for
speeding and running of red lights was installed to
reduce road accidents. In addition, OPS Selamat
has been carried out twice a year during Chinese
New Year and Hari Raya in recent years. MIROS
estimated that the road deaths in Malaysia
will reach a total of 10,716 in 2020 if the same
approach continues (Rohayu et al., 2012). Thus,
a new strategy which involves all other sectors
including transport, police, road authorities,
education and health needs to be planned.
Road Safety Initiatives Road Transport Department, Malaysia.
Throughout the years, numerous road safety
activities were carried out in order to improve road
safety levels in this country. The activities were
designed to cover the three important components
of road safety: roads, vehicles and humans. In
terms of human behaviour, Road Safety Education
was one of the programmes implemented to
expose school children to road safety information.
Besides that, road safety information was also
broadcast through television, radio and websites.
In terms of improving vehicles, various
interventions have been conducted. One of the
most impactful is the New Car Assessment
Programme (NCAP). This evaluates vehicle
safety standards, raises consumer awareness
REFERENCE
Royal Malaysia Police. (2015). Road Accident
Statistical Report, Various Issues. Police Traffic
Department, Malaysia.
Department of Statistics (2015). Malaysian
P o p u l a t i o n . h t t p s : //w w w. d o s m . g o v. my/
v 1 / i n d e x . p h p ? r = c o l u m n /c o n e & m e n u _
id=dDM2enNvM09oTGtQemZPVzRTWENmZz09
Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (2016). Siaran
Akhbar: Perangkaan Sebab Kematian, Malaysia,
2014. Pejabat Ketua Perangkawan Malaysia,
Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia.
World Health Organisation. http://www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/
Rohayu S, Sharifah Allyana SMR, Jamilah MM
& SV Wong (2012), Predicting Malaysian Road
Fatalities for Year 2020, MRR 06/2012, Kuala
Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Road Safety
Research.
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