Loke (right) with officers from Road Transport Department, Malaysia Institute of Road Safety Research, Public Works Department, Road Safety Department and the police to find ways to reduce fatal road accidents in Batu Pahat.
BATU PAHAT: Transport Ministry is taking measures to reduce the number of deaths due to road accidents here in Batu Pahat.
Its Minister Anthony Loke said Batu Pahat was one of the districts in Malaysia that had recorded the highest number of deaths due to road accidents over the past few years.
“A total of 207 deaths were recorded in 2016, 165 in 2017, 178 in 2018 and 44 deaths in the first quarter of 2019 alone.
“There was a decrease of about 20% in the number of deaths from 2016 to 2017, which was the period when a safety campaign focusing on Batu Pahat was carried out, but the number increased in 2018 when the campaign ended,” he said in a press conference at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn.
Loke said among areas with the highest number of fatal accidents was Federal Road 50, which is the road linking Batu Pahat, Air Hitam and Kluang.
“Since it is a federal road, many motorists tend to speed.
“The road also has a lot of interceptions with several villages along the way.
“We found that about 60% of road accident deaths here involved motorcyclists,” he said, adding that the Government was identifying factors causing the accidents along this stretch to find ways to overcome them.“For now, we will build more dividers along the 17km road,” he said.
He estimated at least RM300mil would be needed for this.
“However, safety measures alone are not enough. We must educate the public on road safety.
“As many victims of accidents involved those aged between 15 and 28 years old, we will work closely with schools and universities to create more awareness of safety measures,” he said.
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