Malaysia rated poorly on road safety effectiveness – WHO

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia on implementing the seat belt law and raising awareness on road safety by World Health Organisation has received a poor rating on its effectiveness. The latest WHO global status report on road safety 2015 states that Malaysia has received only a score of 4 out of 10 for enforcing the national seat belt law according to a report by “the Sun”.

“Wearing a seat belt can reduce deaths among rear-seat car occupants by 25% to 75% while it also reduces the risk of death among front-seat passengers by 40% to 65%,”. The report also stated that nation's seat belt compliance rate is 77% for the front seats and only 13% for the rear seats.

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Previously in the year, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research(MIROS) initiated a separate report in which it was mentioned that only 7-9% of Malaysians wear seat belts in the rear portion of the car as compared to the ratio suggested by the report. The % has fallen over the years as in February 2009 when the rear seat belt law was enforced, the rate of compliance was rated by MIROS at 47% before falling over the years.

The report also highlighted the lack of regulation in Malaysia for child restraining systems and also advised to restrict children sitting in front. “Booster seats, Infant seats and child seats can reduce child deaths by 54% to 80% in the case of a crash. According to the report, out of 105 countries 53 countries are noted to have rigorous child restraint laws.

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An earlier report demonstrated that the Malaysian government will introduce a mandatory child seat usage (child restraint systems) by early 2019 considering issues like cost, economy and public awareness. The Road Safety Department earlier has received complaints from motorists on high costs for child car seats, though they already have mentioned that there are ECE R44-certified child car seats on sale as low as RM400.

Malaysia has also received a score of five out of ten by World Health Organisation(WHO) on enforcing the efforts made in implementing drink-driving laws.The report also stated that 23% of deaths were due to alcohol which involved motorists and motorcyclists in Malaysia. WHO director general, Margaret Chan said, “ Better laws are needed on speed, drinking and driving, use of motorcycle helmets, seat belts and child restraints.”