KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s accident rate dropped by a massive 70 per cent during the phase one and two of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
During the MCO imposed from March 18 onwards to curb the spread of Covid-19, only 10,382 accidents were recorded nationwide, said Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (JSPT) director Datuk Azisman Alias.
He said of this figure, there were 130 accidents involving 145 fatalities recorded in the first two phases of the MCO.
“During the MCO period until the end of the second phase, on the average there were 370 accidents daily which was a reduction by nearly 70 per cent, compared to a normal day which would see on an average of about 1,500 accidents.
“In fact the number of fatal accidents also has seen a drop of between four to five cases daily (during the MCO period) compared to 16 or 17 such cases recorded daily on normal days.
“Motorcyclists comprise 80 per cent out of the overall figure for fatal accidents,” he said at a press conference at the Federal Police Headquarters here today.
On traffic police preparations for Ramadan, Azisman said they were in the midst of finalising enforcement activities during the MCO period but it was dependent on further government announcement and policy on the MCO.
“For the JSPT, the lesser number of vehicles on the nation’s roads would be good, as the congestion and accidents will also be reduced.
‘When the government announced the cancellation of the Ramadan bazaar, to me it was a good move, since it is better to break the Covid-19 chain as well as reduce traffic congestion,” he said.