KUALA LUMPUR: The existing practice of allowing drivers to renew their licences once every five years will be reviewed, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
He said there was a weakness in allowing for five-year renewals, as drivers could not be found easily if they were involved in accidents until they renewed their licences.
“This is the loophole in law enforcement that we must study thoroughly,” he said after launching the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) Malaysia Report at Hilton Hotel here yesterday.
Ong added that the ministry wanted to know how many of those involved in accidents actually paid their fines, and what their general attitude was when they were served with summonses.
Earlier in his speech, Ong said the iRAP report showed three key cost-effective countermeasures with the biggest potential to save lives and reduce injuries.
They were the removal of roadside hazards, installing central hatching on undivided roads to separate high-speed opposing flows, and setting up exclusive and non-exclusive motorcycle lanes.
“The full iRAP Malaysia programme has the potential to prevent almost 32,000 deaths and injuries over 20 years, equal to more than a 30%-reduction in trauma levels on the initial iRAP network of 3,700km of roads,” he said.
iRAP is an initiative to help improve road infrastructure safety in low-and-middle income countries in an effort to reduce global road fatalities.
Ong also said that the Government had formulated the Zero Fatalities Vision and the Road Safety Plan of Malaysia 2006-2010.
These two initiatives addressed a wide range of road safety issues, besides setting out a comprehensive and balanced approach in implementing road safety initiatives around the 4E’s: Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Environment.
Make Roads Safe Campaign global ambassador Datuk Michelle Yeoh, who was also present at the launch, said she was very proud that Malaysia had carried out the iRAP programme.
“We need our roads to be safe for our people, for our children, for our breadwinners.
“A few seconds of road accidents will cause them a lifetime of grief,” she said.
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