PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is progressing well towards achieving its aim of making 75% of travel to be on roads with three-star ratings and above by 2020, said Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Launching the first International Road Safety Assessment Programme (iRAP) Malaysia Report 2017, the Transport Minister said the report had shown “positive” results.

The overall assessment revealed that the risk of crashes in more than 50% of the road segments is acceptable (three-star and above), and can be further reduced through middle to long-term countermeasure programmes, said the report.

The iRAP Malaysia Report 2017 details the journey of the iRAP Malaysia programme, and also publishes the star rating results of inter-urban highways in Malaysia.

“The report shows positive results, including the improvements on the roads that were made through joint ventures with various sectors,” said Liow at the launch of the report during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) here.

The first assessment under the programme was carried out on four major expressways in Peninsular Malaysia, covering 2,370km of road in both directions.

Road segments are assessed according to five levels of safety, where a five-star road is the safest and a one-star road is the least safe.

At a press conference later, Liow said iRAP Malaysia will extend its assessment to urban highways, federal roads and state roads, including in Sabah and Sarawak.

“This road ratings programme is important as it helps the public know which roads are safe according to its star ratings.

“It also helps the JKR (Public Works Department) and LLM (Malaysian Highway Authority) to identify road stretches that need to be improved,” said Liow.

On another matter, he said the liberalisation of motor insurance in Malaysia, which began on July 1, will encourage the “safety-first” culture among road users and increase the level of road safety in the country.

“Under this liberalisation phase, the insurance premium will be based on the vehicle owner and vehicle’s risk profile.

“This is a positive move. If your risk profile is low, you will be able to enjoy a lower premium.

“This is a fairer way to set premium prices and will benefit the consumers better,” he added.

Also present at the event were Miros chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and Miros director-general Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon.