MOTORCYCLISTS and pillion riders accounted for nearly 66 per cent of Malaysia’s 6,581 road fatalities in 2025, with 4,452 deaths recorded among the most vulnerable group of road users.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the figures, recorded in the Royal Malaysia Police’s Road Accident Statistics Report 2025, underscored the need to address key risks, including speeding, overloaded commercial vehicles, motorcycle safety and accident-prone locations.
To curb speeding, the ministry is expanding the Automated Awareness Safety System (AwAS) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to enable more consistent, technology-driven enforcement.
“New installation locations are also assessed based on accident data and the risk level of each location,” he said during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The ministry is also implementing Speed Limiting Devices (SLD) in phases for commercial vehicles to prevent them from exceeding prescribed speed limits.
Loke was responding to Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis), who asked why road fatalities remained high despite repeated amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987 and stepped-up enforcement.
He said the ministry was also introducing telematics in phases, beginning with voluntary participation by five service providers.
The technology can track vehicle locations and detect risky driving behaviour, including speeding, sudden braking and aggressive driving. The information can help regulate vehicle operators and determine whether drivers require refresher training to improve road safety.
To address overloading by commercial vehicles, the ministry has introduced the High Speed Weigh-In-Motion (HS-WIM) system, which allows vehicle loads to be monitored without requiring vehicles to stop at enforcement stations.
“This approach enables broader and continuous monitoring of vehicle loads at strategic locations,” he said.
On motorcycle safety, Loke said efforts focused on formal education and training, vehicle safety technology and infrastructure improvements at locations posing higher risks to riders.
The MyLesen B2 and B2S programmes for school students are continuing this year with an allocation of nearly RM30 million, involving 80,648 participants.
The programmes aim to give more Malaysians access to formal training and road safety education before using public roads.
The government is also distributing helmets that meet SIRIM standards, with 70,000 units handed out since 2025.
Loke said Phase Two of the 2022-2030 Malaysian Road Safety Plan was being developed with greater emphasis on measuring the effectiveness of safety interventions.
Performance assessments would no longer rely solely on the number of enforcement operations or summonses issued, but would also consider actual outcomes, particularly reductions in fatal and serious-injury crashes by state, road-user category and high-risk location.
Police accident data helps identify accident black spots, while research and accident reconstruction by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) help establish the factors contributing to deaths and serious injuries, he said. - October 21, 2026
