Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye believes that political will is necessary to address the growing concerns of road safety. As the chairman of the Alliance for A Safe Community, he highlights the dangers posed by reckless riders who disregard traffic rules and calls on all road users to take responsibility for cultivating a road safety culture. Lee emphasizes the need for the government to show political will in restoring discipline and sanity on the roads.
One issue that Lee raises is the practice of offering discounts on traffic violation fines, which he finds strange and problematic. He expresses concern about the increasing road accident statistics, revealing that there has been a 13.3% increase in reported cases from January to June this year compared to the same period last year.
Lee also underscores the importance of unwavering political will in addressing Malaysia’s long-standing mat rempit problem. He suggests learning from Vietnam, where similar challenges have been effectively managed without the same issues faced by mat rempits in Malaysia.
Dr Wong Shaw Voon, the chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), believes that current enforcement and advocacy efforts may be insufficient to deal with the situation. He highlights that fatal road accidents are the leading cause of death among Malaysians between the ages of five and 40, resulting in unnecessary loss of lives and a loss in national productivity.
During the 7th United Nations Global Road Safety Week in Kuala Lumpur in May, it was revealed that a total of 545,630 road accidents were recorded in 2022, averaging to about one accident per minute. Out of this total, 6,067 accidents resulted in fatalities.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
