KUALA LUMPUR: The recently concluded Ops Selamat 21 in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations saw fewer cases being recorded compared to last year.
Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (TEID) director Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the operation was considered a success as it achieved its target in reducing the number of cases.
The department recorded 8,501 accidents, a decrease of 906 cases or 10 per cent compared to Ops Selamat 19, which had 9,407 cases.
"The operation saw a reduction of one fatal accident from the previous 87 while recorded deaths saw a nine per cent reduction from 100 to 91 this year.
"For serious injury cases, Ops Selamat 21 recorded 40 cases compared to 52 cases in Ops Selamat 19, a decrease of 12 cases (23 per cent).
"For minor accidents, there was 295 cases in this year's Ops Selamat 21 compared to 426 cases in Ops Selamat 19, representing a decrease of 131 cases or 31 per cent."
Azman, however, said motorcycle riders and passengers recorded the highest fatalities, totaling 67 deaths or 74 per cent of the total number of deaths in Ops Selamat 21.
"This represents an increase of 11 deaths compared to Ops Selamat 19, which had 56 motorcycle-related deaths."
Azman also said that based on the study of recorded accident numbers, the main causes of accidents are closely tailgating other vehicles, followed by lack of awareness and attention leading to self-skidding, and the third highest cause is failing to notice vehicles or objects in front or beside the vehicle.
"Other contributing factors to accidents include carelessness when entering/exiting intersections, attempting to overtake vehicles/change lanes, and other causes.
"In addition to the drivers' attitude, vehicle technicalities, road conditions, unpredictable weather such as heavy rain and flooding during Ops Selamat 21 also need to be considered, which led to drivers failing to control their vehicles, resulting in accidents."
As such, Azman said, a total of 10,715 vehicles were involved in accidents.
"This is also a decrease of 1,699 vehicles (14 per cent) compared to the 12,414 vehicles recorded in Ops Selamat 19.
"The highest number of vehicles involved in accidents were cars, totaling 7,586, followed by motorcycles with 1,397, and four-wheeled vehicles with 825 cases," he said.
He added that 201,840 summonses were issued during Ops Selamat 21 compared to 103,114 summonses during Ops Selamat 19, an increase of 98,726 summonses.
"The increase in the number of summonses issued compared to Ops Selamat 19 indicates a lower awareness among road users regarding traffic rules and regulations.
"This increase is also attributed to the focus of the department on 'black spot' locations (areas prone to accidents), resulting in a decrease in the number of fatal accidents at these locations," he said during the award ceremony for best contingents and districts for Ops Selamat 21.
Also present was the city police chief, Datuk Allaudeen Abdul Majid.
Azman also thanked the relevant agencies and strategic partners who were involved in Ops Selamat 21 which was held from Feb 8 to Feb 13.