Road users' attitudes a contributing factor to increasing accidents, says Lam Thye

PETALING JAYA: The inability of Malaysians to practise road safety culture is the reason why road accidents are on the rise every year, says Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

The Alliance for Safe Community chairman said the numbers should have been declining as a result of the various measures taken by the government.

"Various campaigns have been conducted, enforcement too has been enhanced especially during the festive season, but it is sad to see that the numbers are still on the rise and road accidents continue to occur.

"One of the major contributing factors to accidents is the attitude of the road users themselves.

"This is because we have yet to inculcate road safety culture, which is the most crucial part if we are to bring down these statistics," said Lee in a statement Wednesday (Feb 5).

Besides inculcating the values of road safety in young children so that they become responsible motorists in adulthood, Lee added that there was a need for stringent law enforcement and respect of traffic rules and regulations by all road users.

"If our attitude does not change, the number of accidents will continue to increase every year, regardless of the various safety and enforcement campaigns carried out by the authorities," he said.

Lee was responding to the statement by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor who said that the Chinese New Year Op Selamat 16/2020 recorded a total of 23,208 accidents, an increase of 11% compared to the same festive season last year.

Mazlan had also said that the death rate increased to 230 cases or 6% more this year compared to the 216 deaths recorded last year during the same Chinese New Year period.

Motorcyclists accounted for the highest number of fatalities with 147 cases followed by car users at 52 deaths, said Mazlan.

Lee also urged the local authorities to ensure maintenance works were carried out on city and municipal roads as statistics had shown poor road conditions also caused road accidents.

"Local authorities need to play their role too, to help decrease the number of accidents.

"We find that maintenance culture is still poor in the country and the local authorities must pay attention to this," he said.

He also advised motorists not to speed or drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol.