The New Emergency: Malaysia’s killer roads
Many of the victims might have survived if only they had buckled up.
Ahmad Sayuthi, The Mole
THE Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 will always be remembered as that dark period in our history where violent deaths were frequent.
During this period, 11,053 people were killed, covering the government forces, communist terrorists and civilians. That’s an average of 921 people a year, with many more injured.
Unfortunately, in these times of supposed peace, there has been no respite from violent deaths.
The main source is our killer roads – the backdrop of thousands of deaths each and every year for the past few decades.
Last week, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai revealed that 7,152 people had died inroad accidents in 2016. That is seven times the average yearly number of casualties from during the Emergency period!
The statistics compiled by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) over a period of almost two decades lead to a very disturbing conclusion – far too many of our fellow humans had died or were seriously injured over the years.
As things now are, an average 1,300 crashes occur every day, with 30 people dying or seriously injured. And this will most likely continue until we, collectively as road users, decide that enough is enough and do what’s required to significantly reduce this trend. The encouraging fact is that, we can.
In that announcement by the Transport Minister, he also stated that 80.6% of those deaths had been due to human error.
And this is precisely where we must focus our attention and effort towards – a significant reduction in aspects related to human error will then prevent a significant number of people dying or being injured.
This is something we must constantly and consistently strive towards for it will also mean the prevention of extreme trauma, sorrow and hardship that would inevitably follow every time accidents happen.
If we are to contribute towards taking the edge off our killer roads, we need to start with ourselves first.
All too often we tend to see “others” as being irresponsible – the over-speeding drivers, swerving and suddenly changing lanes, not signalling, jumping traffic-lights and a host of other acts. Then those motorcyclists who seem to have a death wish, darting in and out and suddenly getting into your lane. Incidentally, 63% of the road accident deaths last year involved bikers.
All of the above certainly contribute towards incidents and the ensuing injuries and deaths. But for a start, just make sure we ourselves aren’t among those “others”.
We may well be competent, responsible and experienced motorists but we are never perfect. There is always room for improvement. Humility and the willingness to learn and self-assess will go a long way towards this.
In this article published by Cars, Bikes and Trucks, Miros director-general Professor Dr Wong Shaw Voon had highlighted some of the most common causes of road accidents.
It would do well for us to take note of what experts and try to comply with what they recommend. And then try to educate and encourage those we have influence over to do the same.
This will create a virtuous cycle where ever more road users become more aware and committed towards making our roads safer.
However, there are limits in what we could reasonably do to prevent accidents. Especially those that are defined as “anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause”.
In retrospect and upon investigation and analysis, we would often know the cause of individual incidents. But these will still happen despite the efforts made.
With this possibility in mind, it is only prudent for us to take steps to ensure the chances of surviving are higher.
Regrettably, many people did not do enough despite having the ability to do so, and resulting in deaths that could have been avoided.
