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PUTRAJAYA: A road safety campaign has been launched to curb accidents involving p-hailing riders, who accounted for two-thirds of the 2,576 motorcyclists killed in the nine months of the movement control order (MCO) last year.

Quoting statistics from the Royal Malaysia Police, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said it was sad that these breadwinners had lost their lives in road accidents.

“While children lost their fathers or mothers, there were also social and economic effects on the dependents,” he said, adding that an estimated 100,000 individuals are involved in p-hailing service in the country.

Wee said this today when launching the road safety campaign themed “Careful Ride, Safe Delivery”, a joint initiative by the government and service providers to increase awareness of road users and reduce accident rates.

He said studies by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings showed that 70 per cent of p-hailing riders adopted risky practices at peak hours, including stopping in yellow boxes, jumping the red light and using mobile phones while riding.

During the six-month campaign, road safety messages will be disseminated via pop-up apps and training sessions on safe riding and activities on monitoring of road conduct will be conducted.