INTERACTIVE: Number of road accidents accelerates in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: The number of road accidents nationwide has spiked, and it has caught up with pre-pandemic levels.

Police said 598,635 road accidents were reported nationwide from Jan 1 to Dec 30 last year, based on a report on Jan 1.

This number is 5.5% higher than the 567,516 road accidents recorded in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

There has also been a spike in road deaths – from 6,080 in 2022, the number rose to 6,433 last year.

In 2019, the total number of road fatalities stood at 6,167.

With the rise in road accidents, several measures will be introduced by the Transport Ministry to strengthen road safety.

This includes a Cabinet committee that will meet three times a year to address road safety and traffic congestion issues in the country.

ALSO READ: Cabinet committee to tackle road safety and jams to meet three times a year

Such moves would be timely, seeing that all states recorded an uptick in road accidents and deaths from 2021 to 2022.

This is based on an analysis by The Star on the Environment Statistics released for every state by the Statistics Department in December last year.

Selangor topped the list with the most fatalities, rising by 35% from 742 in 2021 to 1,003 in 2022.

The most populous state in Malaysia also had the highest figures for road mishaps, with a total of 156,815 accidents in 2022 – a 44% increase from 2021.

The number of fatalities in Selangor contributed the largest chunk nationwide: 16.5% of the total 6,080 road deaths in the country in 2022.

However, the territory with the biggest jump in road accidents was Putrajaya.

From 1,175 in 2021, the number spiked by 62.5% to 1,909 in 2022.

Hit with the travel bug

The anxiety to travel again after the movement control order (MCO) is one of the factors that may have led to the increase in road mishaps.

Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon said the spike in accidents was contributed by increased traffic after restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 were lifted.

On Oct 11 2021, interstate travel was allowed in Malaysia for those who were fully vaccinated, which at that time was almost 90% of the adult population.

“With the higher exposure between vehicles, the higher the likelihood of crashes on the road,” he said.

On the recent year-end holidays, Prof Wong said there was also an increased risk of accidents as people took the opportunity to travel, including tourists who rented cars.

“When driving in places we are unfamiliar with or using a vehicle we aren’t used to, there will be higher chances of an incident occurring,” he said.

As motorists return after the holiday season, Prof Wong said the increased traffic jams would also create higher risks of accidents.

But the chances of a severe crash would be lower due to the slow-moving vehicles, he added.

The different modes of transportation also have a part to play, when it comes to the risk of getting killed on the road.

Motorcycles, by far, have higher probability compared with other vehicles.

“A person on a motorcycle is 16 times more likely to get into a fatal accident compared with a person driving a car.

“Compared with a person on a bus, the motorcyclist is 42 times more likely to get killed,” he said.

The state with the most road injuries

When it comes to injuries from road accidents, one state has emerged with a huge spike in incidents: Penang.

The Pearl of the Orient saw a total of 13,561 cases of injuries from accidents on the road in 2022 – more than tripling from 4,213 in 2021.

Kelantan was in the second spot with 2,949 road injuries in 2022, followed by Kedah (2,462) and Selangor (2,205).

Malaysia is No.3 in Asean

Meanwhile, our country has the third highest rate of road deaths among the 10 countries in South-East Asia.

Malaysia recorded around 22 road deaths for every 100,000 people, based on data from the World Bank in 2019.

The number one country was Thailand, which logged 32 deaths, followed by Vietnam with 30 fatalities per 100,000 population.

Around the world

When it comes to worldwide figures, the number of road deaths have seen a dip.

Globally, road traffic deaths have reduced by 5% from 1.25 million in 2010 to 1.19 million in 2021.

Such was based on the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023 by the World Health Organisation published in December last year.

Between 2010 and 2021, the worldwide population grew by nearly one billion or roughly 13%.

“When this growth in population is considered, the road traffic fatality rate has also declined – from nearly 18 per 100,000 people in 2010 to the current estimate of 15 per 100,000 people in 2021.

“This represents a 16% fall in the death rate since 2010,” read the report.

Vehicles with four wheels like cars and lorries topped the list of road deaths, making up 30% of the total worldwide numbers.

Do more for motorcyclists

In Malaysia, however, most or about 60% of road deaths involve motorcyclists, said road safety expert Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

“As such, if we want to reduce the number of fatalities on the road, we should start with them,” said Law, who heads UPM’s Road Safety Research Centre.

A simple way Malaysia can do this was by creating dedicated motorcycle lanes to prevent the risks of accidents in mixed traffic.

He said the best way to create motorcycle lanes was with physical barriers.

“But if cost is a factor, then an affordable method is to paint markings on the road as dedicated lanes.

“Of course, not every road will be wide or ideal enough for such lanes.

“But it should be included on roads that can cater to it, such as those with three lanes in one direction.

“It should also be on highways, to prevent motorcyclists from using the emergency lane,” he said.

Enforcement should also be conducted to ensure motorcyclists use such dedicated lanes for them.

“We urge the government to keep promoting road safety to bring the accident numbers down,” Law added.