KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty pedestrians have been killed crossing the roads of the nation’s capital since January.
The vast majority, say city police, involved those who crossed roads illegally, despite the presence of pedestrian bridges nearby.
City Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (TEID) chief Assistant Commissioner Zulkefly Yahya said these involved mostly senior citizens aged 55 and above and children below the age of 9.
At the same time, he said, motorists also needed to play their own — and equally important — role and be more aware of people around them.
Zulkefly said motorists need to stay sharp, and if they see pedestrians along the road or crossing the road, slow down their vehicles.
“We are monitoring these sort of cases, which before this happened frequently. After the case of the senior citizen who was killed in Jalan Raja Laut (on Saturday), we have decided to review what sort of follow-up action needs to be taken by TEID to solve this problem.
“But this is something that needs the attention of all involved... pedestrians, motorists, TEID. This is something that involves lives, so let’s all ensure that things like this do not happen again,” he told the New Straits Times Press.
On Saturday, a woman in her 70s and her friend, also a senior citizen, were crossing Jalan Raja Laut when they were hit by a lorry.
The first woman was killed and her friend seriously injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, a Kuala Lumpur City Hall spokesman said the local authority regularly large scale holds operations against jaywalkers.
“We hold these operations two or three times a month, and jaywalkers are issued summonses of RM300 each. And it’s not just us... police, too, can issue summonses to jaywalkers. In fact, there have been joint operations between us and police.”
Checks by the NSTP in Jalan Raja Laut revealed that the majority of people used the pedestrian bridges.
However, a trader who only wanted to be known as Ali said many people, mostly locals, were still too stubborn to realise that using the pedestrian bridges would be better for them.
“I guess they value time more than they value their own lives. They are always ‘chasing’ time... going to work, the bank... wherever it is they want to go.
“Today, however, I see that almost everyone is using the bridges. Perhaps because of the accident. I hope this keeps up.”