MELAKA, Oct 10 — Over 6,000 fatalities are recorded each year due to road accidents, with an average of one life lost every 80 minutes, said Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah.
The alarming rate of accidents primarily involved motorcycle users, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total incidents.
Meanwhile, the number of new vehicles registered in the country reached an all-time high of 799,000 last year.
“To achieve the goal of reducing road accident deaths by 50 per cent by 2030, enhancing driver competency must be the dominant strategy to ensure optimal compliance with road safety rules.
“Therefore, various key initiatives capable of significantly reducing the rates of accidents, injuries, and deaths in a short time are being implemented by the Transport Ministry, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) in collaboration with the driving institutes in the country,” he said when officiating Seminar Tadbir Urus Institut Memandu Malaysia 2024 today.
Hasbi added that among the initiatives implemented was the digitisation of the driving institute (IM) industry via the electronic driving test system, or e-Testing.
The initiative allowed candidates to take the driving test without a JPJ officer present, while their performance was monitored in real-time through detectors and cameras, which could enhance the integrity of the testing process.
The government had allowed qualified driving institutes to set up Driver’s Education Curriculum Test Centre facilities or offer computerised law theory tests to provide better and smoother services to the public.
“According to JPJ statistics, there are currently over 14 million Malaysian driving licence holders across the country. Of this total, 309,284 LMM Class B2 and 335,827 Class D licences were issued to applicants last year.
“This means more than 600,000 candidates are trained annually by 245 driving institutes, emphasising that the IM industry is a strategic partner to JPJ and the government in creating new initiatives to improve road safety and driving awareness,” he said.
— Bernama
