DENGKIL – Deaths on the road are higher than fatalities due to Covid-19 in Malaysia, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today in highlighting the dismal state of road safety in the country.
Expressing deep concern over the increasing number of road crashes and deaths, he said a thorough holistic approach and measures are imperative to make roads safer for all.
“Many people informed me that our campaign must take into account how we can provide more awareness that the threat of road crashes is bigger than Covid-19,” he said in his speech at the launch of a road safety campaign in conjunction with the Lunar New Year travel period today.
The campaign was launched here today by Loke together with Works Minister Datuk Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi at the Dengkil Rest Area (northbound) Elite Highway.
While acknowledging the consistent government efforts to stem Covid-19 infections and deaths, including with daily numbers updates, in the past three years, Loke pointed out that “actually the death rate on the roads is bigger”, with more perishing in crashes than due to Covid-19.
“This is deep, something that is distressful,” he said.
“But the awareness, recognition and people’s awareness on road crashes are not profound or deep-rooted similar to the people’s fear of Covid-19.”
As of yesterday, a total of 36,914 have perished due to Covid-19 since the pandemic hit the country in March 2020, according to Health Ministry data.
According to police, there have been 168,659 road deaths and more than a million injuries caused by road crashes in Malaysia since 1995.
This is an average of 6,486 lives lost annually or 19 killed every day.
A total of 80,952 motorcycle users have been killed in Malaysia since 2001. Up to August 2021, 70 out of 100 deaths on the road were motorcycle users, pushing Malaysia closer to replacing Thailand for having the world’s worst death rate for motorcyclists.
Loke’s stance shares the same wavelength with recent remarks made by the United Nations secretary-general’s special envoy for road safety, Datuk Seri Jean Todt.
Todt, in his New Year message, urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the federal government to get serious about saving lives on the road.
The former supremo of Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile also called on the government to spread more awareness and engage in more communication to address the staggering number of road deaths and injuries in the country, in the same way as battling the coronavirus.
“Millions of people have died on the road and road safety should be (viewed) in the same light as Covid-19.
“Road safety is exactly the same where you need people to feel about the big threat around them on the road, which is very often realised too late … By educating people, you will be able to make the difference,” Todt had told The Vibes.
The UN estimates that about 1.35 million road deaths are recorded annually worldwide, with 3,700 people killed daily. At least nine in ten of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
“More than two (are killed) every minute – especially in low and middle-income countries. They (road crashes) are the biggest killer of children and young people globally and are set to cause around 13 million more deaths and 500 million more injuries over the next decade,” wrote WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the recent United Nations’ book The Road Ahead – 26 Voices for Safe & Sustainable Mobility.
On the “balik kampung” travel period during Chinese New Year, Loke warned that traffic offenders of the “seven sins” would be brought to court.
He said the Road Transport Department (JPJ) will not compromise against those who fail to stop at red lights; drive in the emergency lane; jump queues; overtake on double lines; use cell phones while driving; do not use safety helmets; and do not wear seat belts.
He also said that undercover plainclothes JPJ officers would be stationed at various locations nationwide during the busy “balik kampung” period.
“For this Chinese New Year, we will use the approach of education and advocacy, enforcement, prevention, monitoring and evaluation,” Loke added. – The Vibes, January 17, 2023
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