PUTRAJAYA: Efforts to preventing road traffic accidents should not only lie with the Transport Ministry alone, rather it must be a collaboration among different agencies as well, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that more should be done especially with statistics showing a concerning rate of fatal road accidents.
“The number of fatal road accidents surpassed the deaths caused by Covid-19, hence, awareness to prevent should be inculcated.
“However, the responsibility should not only lie within the Transport Ministry and certain agencies alone,” he told reporters after launching the Conference on Asia Road Safety (Cars) 2024 at Putrajaya International Convention Centre here on Monday (Sept 2).
He also lauded the proactive measures by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) – an agency under the Human Resources Ministry – which encouraged workers who use motorcycles to contribute to Socso.
He added that the contribution under Socso was necessary to ensure riders' welfare can be taken care of in any case of road accidents.
Ahmad Zahid also said that another effort being taken to reduce road accidents, especially around school zones, include the reduction of speed limit from 40 kmh to 30kmh.
He added this was to ensure that students’ safety can be ensured when commuting to and from the schools.
“While we know that some schools have traffic personnel, some still lack it.
“If the pilot programmes are successful, we will then extend it to other areas as well,” he added.
In July, Ahmad Zahid announced the move, in efforts to reduce road accidents involving school zones.
He said the study also found that a speed reduction of 5% can decrease fatal accidents by 30%.
When asked about the timeline of the implementation of the new speed limit, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that there has yet to be any specific dates of implementation.
He added that the matter was decided by the Cabinet special committee, chaired by Ahmad Zahid, but not yet gazetted.
“It will take a bit more time because the matter needs to be streamlined between several ministries such as the Works and Education ministries.
“However, I thank Ahmad Zahid for this bold move as it would help in ensuring the safety of our schoolchildren,” he said.
Also present at the launch was Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.
The two-day conference gathered over 1,000 road safety experts to discuss critical issues regarding road safety and sustainable mobility.
