Malaysia’s Road Accident Rate, 52% Increase In 2022

As the lockdown due to the pandemic is over, Malaysians are now resuming their busy daily lives, out and about driving everywhere and anywhere.

With that, the rate of road accidents is increasing worryingly. Significantly, up to 52% this year, and the year is not even over yet.

Notably, the absence of road restrictions after the MCO caused the number of road users to rise sharply, especially on weekends, festive holidays and public holidays.

Stated by the President of the National Road Users Association (PPJK), Datuk Mohammad Hisham Shafie, this needs to be taken seriously by the JPJ, PDRM and also road users.

Strict actions must be imposed against drivers who do not follow the rules of the road, as studies have also revealed that 80% of accidents are caused by the driver's own attitude.

"Drivers’ attitudes play an important role because they are the ones on the road, sharing it with others. Disrespect for the law and ego while driving is among the causes of the accidents. We see that death due to road accidents has become a very bad disaster in Malaysia. Records show an average of 17 deaths every day with most of them involving motorcycle riders. Our country also used to record one death every 84 minutes due to road accidents, and it is possible that the increasing data at the present time will change and become worse," he remarked.

That said, reportedly, a total of 402,626 road accidents involving 4,379 deaths were recorded from January to September this year. 

According to JPJ Director General Datuk Zailani Hashim, the number of accidents has increased by 147,094 cases from 255,532 and 3,324 deaths reported in 2021.