Crash statistics: govt pays lip service to road safety

 

Recently, transport minister Loke Siew Fook revealed that more than 6,600 people died on Malaysian roads last year, roughly two-thirds of whom were motorcyclists.

To anyone who keeps track of statistics like this, the numbers are truly appalling. Really, really shocking. This equates to 200 people per million inhabitants a year, the standard by which road deaths are assessed globally.

The figure really comes into stark focus when you compare it with Japan (21.3), Sweden (22), the UK (24.3), Singapore (25) and Denmark (26).

Put another way, a Malaysian is roughly eight to 10 times more likely to die in a crash than someone in any of the above countries.

Well, fear not ladies and gentlemen, because our trusty Madani government has a bold plan to save reckless drivers and riders from the error of their ways.

What will it be? Heavy fines or prison sentences? A complete overhaul of driver and rider training? A massive increase in roving police and JPJ patrols to catch people in the act?

Er, no. So what is this new government initiative that will deliver this transformation?

Drum roll…

The police will be encouraged to publish crash statistics.

Wow. As deterrents go, that must have drivers shaking in their seats. Truly earth-shattering. I’m cowering, legs have turned to jelly. I want my mummy!

Truly, cap off to the people who stayed awake all night coming up with that big fat nothing.

And nothing is what the government has achieved because Malaysia’s crash statistics have barely moved in more than a decade, while the countries to which it aspires are all working hard to eliminate road deaths completely.

Of course, we can talk about who’s to blame for this and it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a ministry dedicated for this purpose. Some will say it’s a lack of education, others will say a lack of enforcement and a third camp will point to gaping holes in legislation.

In reality, it’s a combination of the three but, it has been proven time and time again that educating people with a safety conscious mindset saves lives and makes the biggest difference.

Of course we can punish, but as we know in Malaysia, the only form of traffic enforcement the police seem to know is the roadblock. However, the logic behind how they catch Fast & Furious rejects and tailgaters from a queue of traffic crawling along a major thoroughfare remains unclear as of now.

Anway, all across Europe, governments carried out sustained seatbelt campaigns during the 1970s and 80s, so that now – in many of these countries – wearing a seatbelt is second nature. Drivers strap in without even thinking about it when getting in a car.

Meanwhile, it is the motorcycle statistics here that are truly horrifying. In 2023, almost three times as many people died in motorcycle crashes in Malaysia as they did in all fatal incidents on British roads.

And we’re not just talking rempit and delivery riders. Men, women, children, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters. So many people in Malaysia rely on small capacity bikes as a cheap form of personal transport, yet so few are aware of the danger they put themselves in daily.

I have ridden bikes since I was in my early 20s but, for more than 15 years, I have watched dozens of Malaysian riders every single day make manoeuvres so shocking – some with their children clutching to them for all they’re worth – that I wonder what, if anything, is going through their mind.

So, here’s a thought: in an effort to reduce motorcycle fatalities, the British government decided in 1990 to introduce a two-stage motorcycle exam, which included a one-day compulsory basic training (CBT) course for small capacity bikes up to 125cc.

The CBT drills into students the importance of safety: manhandling a motorcycle (even the smaller bikes are heavier than the average man), essential riding skills and how to defend their space in traffic.

The government had dispensed with the old adage that if you foul up, you will face the long arm of the law.

The new message was sobering in its clarity: be safe or you will die a grisly death. As such, British motorcycle deaths dropped by 80% over the following decade.

Moreover, one crucial aspect of the CBT is how observation plays a key role in your survival, knowing where you are and what’s around you at all times.

British riders call that last-second glance over your shoulder just before you make a move the ‘lifesaver’, because it literally does just that.

In contrast, Malaysian riders just throw caution to the wind and leave it to emergency services to scrape what’s left of them off the asphalt.

It’s high time we overhauled our driver and rider training to focus on safety.

Or we can continue to publish crash statistics. Do let us know how you get on with that, Mr Loke.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.