More Malaysians Die From Road Accidents Than COVID-19 – Zahid

DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said more Malaysians have died from road accidents than from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the sudden rise of road accidents here in Malaysia, deaths due to it are also becoming more and more common, so much so that you can think of it as endemic. Just to highlight how serious this endemic really is, deputy Prime Minister YAB Dato' Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pointed out that there are more people who die on our roads than the total death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This remark was made by Zahid, who also chairs the cabinet committee on road safety and traffic congestion, at the Conference on Asia Road Safety (CARS) 2024 in Putrajaya earlier this week. As reported by Astro Awani, the DPM also stated that Malaysia has recorded one of the highest deaths due to road accidents in the world, and these figures show no sign of slowing down.

“Malaysia is among the Southeast Asian countries facing this issue, especially involving motorcycle riders. Although the death rate per 100,000 people came down from 27% in 2000 to 22.5% in 2019, it’s still among the highest in the world,” Zahid said.

Moreover, motorcycle riders and their passengers made up to 5% of road accident deaths last year, averaging over 6,000 annual deaths in recent years. To give a picture of how big those numbers are, Zahid said that the burial space required every year for motorcycle deaths is almost the size of six football fields.

In order to curb this 'endemic,’ the government has introduced the mandatory ABS regulation for motorcycles with an engine capacity of 150 CC and above beginning January 1, 2025. On top of that, the DPM also announced plans to reduce the speed limit in school zones by 10 KM/H to 30 KM/H.

The DPM ended his keynote speech by stating that the responsibility to reduce road accidents doesn’t just fall on the government—specifically the transport ministry—alone, as other agencies and entities must also play their part to curb this endemic.----------