Safety is in your hands, drivers told

Fatal end: A wireman (above) died in an accident on the Penang Bridge while a university student was killed in an accident along Jalan Tun Razak after his car was hit by a BMW travelling against traffic.

PETALING JAYA: Road users must take responsibility for their own safety at all times, even though authorities are pulling out all the stops to ensure road safety during the festive season.

Some of the most shocking accidents on the road this year involved those driving against traffic flow.

On April 2, a 65-year-old wireman was killed in a head-on collision with a car on the Penang Bridge while he was riding his motorcycle against traffic.

A 26-year-old factory worker died when his car was struck by a 19-year-old girl driving her vehicle against traffic on the North-South Expressway near Permatang Pauh, Seberang Prai, on March 14.

On Feb 16, a 21-year-old university student was killed when a car going against the flow of traffic crashed into his vehicle along Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur.

Driving in the wrong direction is only one of many dangerous acts committed by some road users.

Statistics provided by Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) Road Safety Research Centre (RSRC) showed that dangerous turns, speeding, reckless overtaking, tailgating, beating the red light, failing to use turn indicators and overloading were among the 10 major offences leading to accidents in 2015.

Those offences accounted for 8,182 accidents that year, of which 3,459 were fatal.

There were 23,110 other accidents that did not involve human error.

In the category for accidents caused by mechanical failure, RSRC found that 779 in 2015 were caused by faulty brakes, bald or disintegrated tyres, defective lamps, broken windscreens, faulty steering wheels, and excessive exhaust smoke. Of that, 399 were fatal accidents.

A wireman (above) died in an accident on the Penang Bridge.

Another 30,513 accidents were caused by other kinds of mechanical failure.

RSRC head Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua said road users should take the initiative and ensure their own safety, instead of relying on authorities to do the job.

For example, it is safer for road users to make long journeys during the day instead of at night when they are more likely to be sleepy and tired.

If their vehicle breaks down on an expressway, the occupants should stand behind the guardrail, not at the back of their stalled vehicle.

“This is so that the vehicle is visible to oncoming traffic, which could prevent a collision,” Dr Law said.

A particular group of road users that has become a cause for concern is motorcyclists who reportedly account for more than 60% of accidents this year.

Dr Law said motorcyclists, who are 22 times more likely to get into accidents compared to other road users, have to take extra precautions, such as travelling in groups and wearing brightly-coloured clothing, including a reflective vestor white helmet, to increase visibility.

“Another affordable solution is to place reflective stickers on their helmets. This would help increase their visibility to drivers of heavy vehicles in particular,” he said.

Several integrated operations and road safety campaigns, such as Ops Selamat, Ops Bersepadu and Ops Hari Raya, were launched nationwide last week in preparation for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays.