PDRM Is Going To Publish Daily Updates On Road Accident Deaths
Transport Minister Anthony Loke expressed hope that the daily updates will raise public awareness on road safety.
By May Vin Ang — 07 Mar 2024, 11:45 AM
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has agreed to release daily updates on fatal road accident statistics
According to The Star, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his ministry would be coordinating with the police to make the data available to the public on a daily basis.
"The police will release information about road accident deaths from the previous day.
"We want to make this a policy so that it will be published by all media. We are hoping for the cooperation of all media, including the print media, to make these figures public to spread awareness," he said during a press conference at the Parliament building on Wednesday, 6 March.
Loke expressed hope that the daily updates would raise public awareness on road safety
He said road accidents were the fourth-highest cause of death in Malaysia last year, with 6,443 fatalities recorded in 2023.
This number translates to an average of 18 deaths a day and represents the highest figure in the past five years.
"From this figure, nearly two-thirds of it involved motorcycles, which had 4,448 deaths last year. This is an average of 12 deaths a day and it means that every two hours, there is one fatal accident involving motorcycles," added Loke.
The minister said the high frequency of deaths makes road accidents just as dangerous as COVID-19
"We want to report road accidents just as how COVID-19 cases were reported daily [during the pandemic]," he was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying.
"We need to take a whole-of-society approach to reduce the number of road accidents.
"With the daily updates from the police, we want to change the mindset of Malaysians not to take road safety lightly," he added.
