SHAH ALAM: Road Safety Department of Malaysia recently organised a special advocacy programme targeting youths and motorcyclists to reduce the number of fatal road accidents.
Its director general Datuk Dr Tam Weng Wah said this was because according to statistics, road users between the ages of 16 to 20 and followed by 21 to 25 made up one third of the total number of road accident deaths in the country.
"Youths and motorcyclists are the most vulnerable group.
"Fatal road accident involving youths is something we want to prevent as their deaths will not only be mourned by their families but will be a loss to the nation as they are the human capital of this country," he said in a press conference after the programme at Alisha Shell station in Batu Tiga, here, today.
Tam said last year, there were 6,915 deaths from road accidents and every day, almost 20 fatalities were recorded.
"This is why is crucial for all parties to work together to send a clear message to the community to reduce the number of deaths and permanent disabilities," he said.
He said the Road Safety Department is targeting to halve the number of deaths from road accidents by 2020 through a new six-year plan.
Tam said based on the statistics, the number of road accident deaths is expected to reach 10,716 in 2020 but the department hopes to reduce it to 5,358.
He said with everyone's cooperation, this is achievable as the road accidents death index have been reduced from 4.51 for every 10,000 vehicles in 2004 to 2.9 for very 10,000 in 2013.
Earlier, Tam gave out 40 motorcycle helmets and safety vests to motorcyclists.
Also present today were Shell Malaysia Trading national sales manager Au Tong Sing and Selangor Road and Safety Department director Nor Laily Zakaria.