Govt wants to cut road deaths by half by 2030

The Malaysian government aims to halve road fatalities by 2030, following the tragic deaths of 6,537 individuals in accidents last year, according to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Zahid emphasized that success in road safety should be measured by the number of lives saved, not the number of campaigns or operations carried out.

In a statement following a Cabinet committee meeting on road safety and congestion, Zahid highlighted that motorcyclists, comprising about 14% of vehicles involved in accidents, accounted for approximately 66% of all road deaths. This stark statistic reveals that nearly two out of every three individuals killed on Malaysian roads were riding motorcycles.

Zahid asserted that the government can no longer depend on traditional methods of road safety and called for intensified efforts targeted at the most vulnerable groups, alongside improvements in road infrastructure, enforcement, education, healthcare, and urban planning. The financial impact of road-related deaths in 2022 was estimated at RM30 billion, a figure that underscores the urgency of addressing this issue.

Transportation workers traveling to and from their jobs faced particularly high risks, with Socso data indicating that their commuting accident death rate was 2.4 times higher than workplace accidents. To tackle these challenges, Zahid proposed a collaborative approach involving the Social Security Organization (Socso), police, the road transport department, and employers.

Together, they would identify high-risk workplaces and areas, introducing a phased road safety program focusing on defensive driving, driver fatigue, and monitoring driving behavior.