Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's statement recently that speed limits in school zones nationwide would be lowered to 30kph from the present 40kph has been greeted with cheer from road safety experts.
See, they have long been pushing for it to be lowered, for the safety of all. In fact, one expert remarked it was shocking that it was not lowered a long time ago and that the government was only talking about it now.
It was somewhat weird, however, that in saying this, Zahid had said an average of 67 motorcyclists die in crashes near schools each year.
There was neither mention of other vehicles nor of how many schoolchildren, teachers or parents were involved in such incidents.
Mind you, the statistics are only for the motorcyclists who die. There was also no mention of how many have been injured, or how many crashes occur each year, whatever the vehicle.
While applauding the decision, experts agreed on one thing: no matter how much you lower the speed limit, if there is no proper enforcement, the efforts will come to nothing.
This was echoed by Alliance for a Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who said consistent enforcement was needed to promote road safety in school zones
Lee had also commended the government and Zahid for taking the step, but noted that "we can have a plethora of rules and regulations in the statute books, but they serve no purpose if there is no strict enforcement of their provisions".
When drivers know there is a high probability of being caught and penalised for violations of rules near schools, he said, they are more likely to comply with the regulations.
But, are these two steps — lowering the speed limit and strict enforcement — all that is needed?
A quick comparison with school zone speed limits in some countries will tell you that Malaysia currently follows international standards.
In Singapore, for instance, the speed limit near schools is set at 40kph, and in some areas, this is only during certain periods, when warning lights start flashing.
In the United States, most states set the speed limit in school zones at 25mph, which equates to 40kph as well.
Some states, however, have limits as low as 15mph (24kph). It is the same for Australia, where speed limits vary in different states. In some, the limit is 25kph, in others, it is 40kph.
Bringing our speed limit down to 30kph would, however, align us with the United Kingdom and Canada.
For sure, these two steps are needed. Slowing down traffic in school zones should allow greater safety. It would be only slightly greater safety, however, if there is no enforcement. Strict enforcement, at that.
But, we must look more to the long term. Let us say that these measures manage to bring down the numbers by half (yes, we can dream). That still leaves too high a toll.
Ultimately, what we need is a change of mindset among motorists, whether they move around in four-wheeled or two-wheeled vehicles (or three wheels, in some cases).
How often have we seen motorists beat traffic lights, make illegal U-turns or drive/ride against the flow of traffic?
Many complain that motorcyclists are the ones who most often go against traffic regulations.
Yet there have been many cases of other vehicles causing crashes.
For the record, we had 598,635 road crashes nationwide in 2023, a significant increase from 545,588 in 2022. What is worse is that, in that time, more than 12,000 people lost their lives on Malaysian roads, double that of 2022.
Truly troubling, considering that works out to more than 30 people a day.
Changing mindsets, of course, will take a long time, but this is the only surefire way of getting our numbers down in all zones, not just near schools.
Just how we do it, we need to leave to the experts. One suggestion is that road safety and road etiquette be taught in schools so that, even from a young age, our children know what needs to be done and how they need to act later on in life.
* The writer is NST news editor