SEREMBAN: Johor, Perak and Selangor recorded the highest fatal accident rate in the country for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) director-general Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak said Batu Pahat district in Johor has recorded the highest number of deaths with 554 cases recorded for the past three years.
“The Batu Pahat route to Kluang via Ayer Hitam has been identified as the ‘hot spot’ route where many cases of fatal accidents occur on the route.
“The long and straight four-lane paths have been identified as one of the contributing factors that had caused accidents as the nature of the road had led road users to speed beyond the limit,” she said.
He said besides Batu Pahat, other districts in the state that had also recorded high rates of fatal accidents were in Johor Bahru Selatan with 315 cases and Kluang with 296 cases.
In Selangor, 347 cases were recorded for the Kajang district, followed by Klang Selatan (270) and Kuala Selangor (260).
“In Perak, the three districts that had recorded the highest number of fatal accidents were Ipoh (402), followed by Manjong (261) and Hilir Perak (232),” she said when met after the launch of the 21km Yamaha Village Road Safety Campaign here, today.
Also present were Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Road Safety Department Director-General (JKJR) director-general Datuk Rosli Isa and state Housing, Local Government and New Village Committee chairman Teo Kok Seong.
Dr Siti Zaharah said based on the research conducted by MIROS, human negligence is also one of the factors that cause accidents.
“Lately, we’ve seen trends in drivers using cell phones while driving either using the WhatsApp, taking selfies or surfing the social media sites. Keep in mind that only one second of negligence can lead to accident,” she said.
Meanwhile, Loke said the ministry would hold talks with the state government, JKJR and Road Transport Department to find ways to reduce accident rates, especially in hot spot locations.
He said although enforcement had been conducted frequently on the locations, it was still insufficient to reduce the rate of accident.
“The level of awareness among drivers is still lacking and we need to continue conducting community-educated campaigns on road safety. The role of parents is also important to teach and control their children to avoid them from breaking the law,” he said.