Increase traffic enforcement on federal, town and rural roads as well, says Loke

NILAI: The police and Road Transport Department have been asked to increase enforcement activities on federal, town and rural roads during this Hari Raya festive period.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said this was necessary as most accidents are reported along these stretches rather than the country's expressways.

"It is my hope that this will be done with more focus given to motorcyclists as they are involved in 63% of all fatal accidents.

"This is also important as many motorcyclists do not wear helmets, especially in smaller towns," he said when launching a road safety campaign in conjunction with the coming Hari Raya celebration.

Loke said an estimated 35% of all motorcyclists do not wear helmets on the road.

Also present was Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador.

Loke said the road safety campaign, which starts Sunday (May 26), will end on June 12.

"Our target is to reduce road fatalities. If possible, we should try and achieve zero road fatalities," he said.

Loke said JPJ teams would also be stationed at selected R&R's along the highways to carry out enforcement work.

He said the number of accidents during this year's Chinese New Year celebration also fell from 21,041 registered last year to 20,829.

"Although the number of road fatalities during the two week period also fell from 208 to 197, the numbers are still very high.

"We need to work harder to bring this down," he said.

Abdul Hamid, in his speech earlier, said police personnel would do their best to help reduce road fatalities.

"It is also my hope that this noble effort to create awareness on road safety will bear more positive results this time around," he added.-Star