IN 2023, an average of 12 motorcyclists die daily on the road, accounting for approximately 75% of all road crashes, said Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (TIED) director Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri.
Speaking in an interview with Utusan Malaysia, Mohd Yusri said this was a spike from the numbers recorded the year before, adding that the increase may be due to the higher number of motorcyclists and pillion riders on the road.
“Many factors cause motorcycle accidents such as riding dangerously or recklessly, road conditions and crashes resulting from other vehicles,” the Malay daily quoted him as saying.
According to statistics from the Federal Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department, Malaysia recorded 600,000 motorcycle crashes last year, with an average of 1,644 cases daily.
On Wednesday (Aug 7), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed concern over the high accident rate among motorcyclists, which is linked to weaknesses in traffic law enforcement and issues related to road maintenance.
Acknowledging the prime minister’s concerns, Mohd Yusri noted that the department would enhance enforcement by ramping up operations and implementing stricter measures.
Stricter enforcement would involve summoning and holding the parents of underage offenders accountable for their under-16 children’s traffic violations, as permitted under Section 31 of the Children Act 2001 and Section 19 of the Road Transport Act 1987, he added.
“In addition, we also conduct ‘Ops Samseng Jalanan’ every week which cracks down on illegal racing activities,” he said.
“We also periodically go down to the ground to investigate and gather information on where illegal races are regularly held.”
Mohd Yusri stressed that the department also has launched road safety campaigns at various levels including in schools through ‘Op Didik’.
He said the ‘Ops Didik’ was mainly to give students better knowledge, awareness and road safety reminders so that they would be extra careful when riding their motorcycles on the road and would follow all the traffic laws for safer travel. – Aug 9, 2024
Main image credit: The Star
