Liow speaking at the launching of Road Safety Education Module 2016. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: An improved Road Safety Education Module will be used in schools next year, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said the ministry welcomed public views and proposals to improve the module from yesterday to March 17 on the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) website.
“All inputs will be analysed and taken into account,” he told reporters after launching the project to review and redevelop the module here yesterday.
Road Safety Education was implemented in schools in 2007 with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education as a long-term proactive measure to boost road safety awareness among students.
According to Liow, the module encompassed a weekly 40-minute road safety education which would be taught as part of the Bahasa Malaysia subject to Year One to Year Three students.
He said the readjustment of the module was crucial to ensure that the topic was prepared in accordance with the times and in tune with the present culture.
“One glaring example is driving while using the mobile phone, a scenario which was non-existent 15 or 20 years ago,” he said.
Liow also said that the number of road accidents in 2015 rose to 489,606 compared to 476,196 in the previous year, with deaths from road mishaps rising to 6,706 compared to 6,674 in 2014.
In 2015, a total of 1,849 deaths in road accidents involved those who were 25 years old and below, he said.
He said that according to a study by Miros in 2015, the overall loss from road mishaps in Malaysia touched RM8.6 billion, and this included deaths and serious and light injuries. — Bernama