Road safety should not be taken for granted

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SIX thousand people are killed in traffic accidents every year. A frightening  statistic by all accounts, yet it should come as no big surprise considering road safety – albeit often a matter of life and death – receives only scant attention from motorists in the country.

The high road deaths beg the question as to whether lessons from past tragedies have been learnt – a pertinent point raised by Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Alluding in particular to the recent expressbus accident in Sabah that claimed seven lives, he said the tragedy should serve as a timely reminder that road safety is not to be taken for granted given that Malaysia has one of the highest fatal road accidents in the world.

The more important question though is have any lessons been learnt from previous road carnage? If so, then there is certainly copious room for improvement since the 6,000 road deaths recorded yearly have not dropped but merely plateaued out.

Lee made a salient observation when he said everytime a road accident was reported, the transport authorities would conduct an investigation but it seems they always missed one important lesson – that road safety must be taken seriously through effective follow-up action to prevent more unnecessary road deaths.

There are several probable causes for the expressbus tragedy in Sabah. Had the vehicle been travelling at high speed? What about the brakes? Were they reliable? Furthermore, was the driver suffering from concentration lapses due to fatigue? These are some of the crucial factors that should be looked into during the investigation to prevent the recurrence of similar mishaps.

According to an NGO report, the number of road accidents in Malaysia has been increasing steadily over the last three decades and may even escalate dangerously in the future. Some quarters have urged major changes in the way traffic offences are handled in the hope th at a new strindent approach will encourage a more responsible attitude on the road.

In fact, road accidents in Malaysia have gone up by about 135 per cent since the 1980 with a corresponding rise in related injuries and fatalities. Obviously, serious re-education and more stringent traffic laws are needed to bring the figure down.

Another point worth noting is that of all the traffic accidents and offences committed by Malaysian drivers, 1.4 million are repeat transgressions. This is much higher than the nine to 12 per cent rate recorded by developed countries such as France and Britain.

Speeding is the most common offence although queue jumping, overtaking on double lines, running traffic lights, illegal use of emergency lanes and talking on mobile phones while driving also contribute in no small measures to the high fatal road accidents.

We should not show anymore mercy to errant road users. Even with the introduction of the 50 per cent discount scheme, only four per cent of outstanding traffic fines were settled. The scheme has been slammed for being too soft on reckless motorists whose ‘tidak-apa’ attitude contributes to an average of 18 road fatalities per day in the country. Arguably, half-hearted imposition of the discount scheme had encouraged motorists to pass their offences off as inconsequential.

Indeed, if motorists are caught speeding, parking indiscriminately (the city is full of such offenders) or commiting acts that are inimical to the interests of road safety, the best solution, as most people would agree, is to fine them and make them pay on the spot. To be sure, such tough but warrated action will produce immediate results for the better.

As one observer quite rightly pointed out: “For the rich, driving vehicles worth over RM300,000, a RM300 fine may not amount to much but how many fines can they continue to pay before they find the whole process cumbersome?

“For the not so rich, on-the-spot fines may hurt a bit but the desired effect is that this will make them think twice before flouting traffic regulations again. And for those who do not have money, the sensible thing to do is not to speed or commit traffic offences they know will burn a big hole in their pocket.”

It has even been suggested that fines for repeat offenders be doubled. And why not? There is no reason for the fines to be halved, is there?

The over 6,000 deaths on our roads annually due to reckless driving should serve as a timely wake-up call. But it seems to have fallen mostly on deaf ears.

That’s the sad reality. And so long road safety is taken lightly, Malaysian roads and highways will continue to be turned into potential death traps by the reckless and the careless at the expense of the innocent unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.