Liow: Enforcement on road to be intensified during CNY period

File picture of Liow.

KUALA LUMPUR: Enforcement on the road will be intensified to ensure the number of road accidents and fatalities are reduced during the Chinese New Year period later this month.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (pic) said his ministry, together with other agencies such as the police and Road Transport Department (JPJ) are committed to ensuring the safety of all road users.

"Every year since 2002, the number of road fatalities has been on the rise and in 2016 alone, some 7,152 deaths were recorded.

"Last year, according to the statistics from the police, the number of deaths dropped to 6,740 deaths.

"This shows that the efforts by the various agencies are working and I am happy to see some reduction.

"But this is not enough, more should be done. My target is a reduction of 10% in road fatalities yearly," he said in his speech on Saturday at the launch of the road safety campaign in conjunction with Chinese New Year.

Liow added that the efforts from various agencies have shown some results as the death index for every 10,000 registered vehicles on the road last year stood at 2.34 compared to the figure of 2.59 in 2016.

He said motorcycles still remain the highest contributor in terms of road fatalities every year.

From the total number of fatalities recorded in 2017, some 64.5% or 4,348 are motorcyclists.

Liow hoped that the public would also play a role in reducing the number of accidents and fatalities on the road by being more cautious and obeying the law.