Some alarming news has recently surfaced.
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) just released statistics, which showed that Malaysia had a total of 7,152 deaths related to road accidents in 2016.
This statistic shows that on average, 20 Malaysians died due to road accidents on a daily basis in the past year.
On top of that, Deputy Director-General of the Road Safety Department (JKJR), Datuk Roslan Eusoff stated that motorcycle and pillion riders lead with the highest number of road fatalities. This means an average of 12 out of 20 fatal road accidents involve these vehicles.
Datuk Roslan also went on to state that 82 percent of these fatal road accidents were due to the carelessness of drivers, according to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).
This issue is certainly alarming, especially in light of the fatal road accidents that have occurred recently. In February, an accident in Johor Bahru involving a car and a group of teen cyclists claimed the lives of eight children. The driver was charged with dangerous and reckless driving.
On top of that, earlier this month, a young teen from Penang caused a fatal accident because she drove on the wrong side of the North-South Expressway (NSE). She was recently charged in court for using drugs.
It’s time we all take more care when driving on the roads, since it could be a matter of life or death.
Also read: Malaysia #2 in SEA for Road Accident Deaths