TAPAH: The Transport Ministry yesterday launched the Road Safety Campaign and ‘Op Bersepadu’, which will begin tomorrow and end on Feb 1, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.
Its minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said among the agencies involved in the campaign, themed ‘Pandu Cermat, Sampai Selamat’ (drive carefully, arrive safely) are the police, Road Transport Department (RTD) and the Road Safety Department.
“It will also involve the participation of the Civil Defence Force, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety, the Public Works Department and the Emergency and Trauma Department under the Health Ministry,” he said at the launch of the campaign at the Tapah Rest and Recreation Area here yesterday.
‘Op Bersepadu’ which encompasses four key programmes, namely education, enforcement, prevention and monitoring, is aimed at further raising awareness on road safety especially during the festive season as well as reducing road crash incidents and deaths on the road in the country. Loke said RTD is also conducting a pre-enforcement operation until today involving inspections at 75 bus depots and 28 major bus terminal nationwide to ensure the roadworthiness of the vehicles.
He also warned heavy vehicles against using highways for the period from Jan 23-24 and Jan 27-28.
Meanwhile, Loke said a total of 20,829 road crash incidents were recorded during last year’s Chinese New Year ‘Op Bersepadu’ compared to 21,041 cases in 2018.
“During the same period, 216 casualties were recorded compared to 226 in 2018,” he said. — Bernama