NAME: JOSHUA NICHOLSON JIMELES

IC NO: 020716120111

Best Ways to rwduce accident rates on Malaysian roads.

Malaysia is one of the countries with the highest accident rates, ranked 65th in the world, and 5t
h in Asia. In 2019 between January to June, 281,527 accidents have been reported all over the co
untry. Accidents affect everyone, not just the victims of accidents but also their families. People
become victims because of other driver's negligence in following the traffic rules and laws of the
road. Accidents on roads should not happen if we drive responsibly and rationally. By implement
ing an active and sufficient number of the police in the traffic force and reinforcing the laws and
rules of the roads we can reduce the accident rates on Malaysian roads.

Fire and foremost, one of the best ways to reduce accident rates is by implementing an active an
d sufficient police force that does regular patrols on roads. The current police patrols seem to be i
nactive as fewer police cars are seen on roads. The police force should assign teams that are mor
e active compared to the current police team who often travel in a car to designated routes and co
nstantly drive back to back or stay idle at a specific place for a fixed time and change shift with a
nother team. Because with a more active police force on the road, people will drive much more c
autiously and responsibly. The police will take immediate action against road users if the laws ar
e broken. As an example when a car drives recklessly or speeds, the police will chase the offende
r and immediately take action and be given a summons. This will make road users drive much m
ore responsibly.

Secondly, reinforcing road transport laws would also help reduce accident rates. By reinforcing
the road transport laws, it would make road users more aware that strict and heavy penalties are
waiting for those who disobey the rules. Road users will be much more rationale when driving an
d not neglecting their responsibilities as road users. It will act as a reminder to them that penaltie
s for breaking the laws for example speeding over the enforced speed limits can be fined up to R
M300 or drivers who do not wear seat belts or fail to remind the passengers to do so can be fined
up to RM300 but it seems that the penalties are too lenient, I believe by increasing the fine from
RM300 to RM500 road drivers will be more law-abiding. As behavior that is followed by pleasa
nt consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is le
ss likely to be repeated.

Thirdly, Imposing harsher punishments against drunk drivers, we fail to see that a drunk driver i
s a madman that appears sane. The current offenses for drunk driving is a fine of not less than R
M1,000 and not more than RM6,000 or imprisonment, not less than 12 months. For drunk drivin
g offenses that lead to death, offenders have punished a maximum fine of RM10,000 and a maxi
mum jail term of 12 months, this law is weak and the punishment is too lenient. It does not seem
to commensurate with the loss of lives and suffering of the victim’s family. Imposing a harsher p
unishment such as jail for two years, fined RM10,000 to RM30,000, and have their license revok
ed for two years, for DUI leading to deaths jail between 10 and 15 years, fined RM50,000 to RM
100,000, and stopped from driving for 10 years. only with these harsher punishments will it mak
e road users understand that drunk driving is taken seriously. With this, we can reduce accident r
ates.

Lastly, I believe the least effective way to reduce accident rates is by doing public education thr
ough campaigns. The reason is that a lot of people nowadays are very arrogant, ignorant, and im
patient. This is because people of such tend to think they know it all and even if they knew such
knowledge they don't use it or practice it when driving and most people don't even have time to p
articipate in campaigns as they say they are busy. Most people would tend to forget if the campai
gns aren't impactful, in a few weeks. Instead of this, I believe campaigns such as these should wo
rk together with the government and use billboards or banners that usually are for advertisement
s and change it to a more driving concerned advertisement or quote such as "eyes on the road and
your head out of your apps" or "keep calm and drive safely" banners or billboards with such sayi
ngs, should be placed at traffic junctions where cars usually wait for the traffic light. It will be m
uch better as road users will be regularly reminded that they should drive safely.