Published on: Friday, May 28, 2004 |
Alor Setar: Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan on Thursday urged motorists to play their role in reducing the number of road accidents this year by driving safely.
In making the call, he reminded motorists who drink alcohol not to drive if they are drunk but opt for taxis when they wished to go home.
He also advised the pedestrians to wear luminous clothes when they are on the road at night. Tan said this at the launching of the Pesta Kaamatan road safety campaign at the Penampang road by-pass.
He disclosed that Sabah recorded 3,681 road accidents between January and April this year compared with 3,436 cases during the same period last year, reflecting a 7.1 percent increase or 245 cases.
Of this figure, there were 73 fatal cases, resulting in 85 deaths, 104 serious injuries and 301 minor injuries.
During the same corresponding period last year, he said the Sabah traffic police reported 73 fatal cases with 91 deaths, 115 serious injuries and 333 minor injuries.
He said the objective of the campaign was to enhance safety awareness among motorists.
I was made to understand that there has been a rising trend in the number of road accidents and fatalities over the past seven years.
In 1997, there were 7,741 cases, 8,246 cases in 1998, 9,143 cases in 1999, 9,615 cases (2000), 10,075 cases (2001), 10,243 cases (2002) and 11,073 cases (2003), he said.
But Tan, who is also the Chairman of the Sabah Road Safety Council, pointed out that an increase in the number of vehicles and total population over the past seven years could also be attributed to the rising trend of road accidents.
According to him, the number of vehicles increased from 293,973 in 1997 to 502,791 last year.
The population increased from 2.49 million in 1997 to 2.88 million in 2003.
He also noted that in 2003, pedestrians accounted for the most deaths with 94 recorded or 30.6 per cent of the total number of deaths during the year, as against 72 deaths in 2002.
Motorcycle riders followed with 55 deaths recorded last year compared to 49 in 2002 with an increase of six deaths or 12.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, motorists ranked third with 33 deaths last year compared to 23 in 2002.
In 2003, the State capital recorded the highest number of road accidents with 3,356 cases followed by 1,223 cases in Sandakan, 1,165 cases in Tawau, 1,125 in Penampang and 53 cases in Sipitang.
The highest of number of deaths was recorded in Kota Kinabalu with 42 cases followed by Tawau (36), Sandakan (26), Lahad Datu (23) and Keningau (17), he said.
Tan said both the traffic police and Road Transport Department would be monitoring certain stretches of road in the State, which are mostly used by the road users and accident-prone areas.
