The Ops Sikap 20 closed its campaign after the Raya Rushback from kampongs to cities ended with some good news and some not so good news.
First the good news. The parties involved in the last Ops Sikap like the JPJ and the AADK ( Anti Dadah) must be congratulated for a job well-done. We did not see any major bus accidents and thus no death contributed from bus passengers or drivers this time around. This is mainly due to the two bodies arresting the problem at source. I was fortunate to witness the JPJ and AADK atwork in Medan Gopeng. Buses coming out from the station were immediately stopped and the drivers checked. I am sure many drug-addict drivers were hauled up thus eliminating potential accidents. Congratulations to the authorities for identifying the problem and taking action to eliminating it.
However the bad news is that motorcyclists again form the highest contributor to the death list statistics. Media reports highlighted this again and again making it look as though the motorcyclists are the cause of their own death. From experience I believe strongly that motorcyclist’s death are caused primarily by other vehicles. Motorcyclist are either mowed down from behind or are side swiped due to vehicles cutting into the path of motorcyclists. Looking at the death figure one will immediately notice that it occurred most on Federal Roads,
the State Roads and then the Town Roads. From these one will know that the death are mostly locals.
Locals? Why?
The answer is simple. Accidents occur because 2 different groups of road users with different priorities meet and when they meet they are bound to clash. Two main groups in the Raya Rush Period are 1) the balik kampong Group and 2) the slow pace local town folks.
The 'balik kampong' group has nothing in their mind but to get back to their destination as fast as possible. These are not normal
travelers on a 'makan angin' who slows down and take in the sceneries.
The local town folks on the other hand are just carrying on with what the do as usual just like the other 364 days of their year. They are aware of the increase in
traffic but are not / or cannot change their routine and habits just for this one day.
When these two groups meet a collision will occur. A good example of this is the startling figure that pedestrian and bicyclists also were listed in the death list. Now surely these pedestrian and bicyclists were not on the raya rush to balik kampong!
To minimize collision between these two groups we recommend that;
Road be built to by pass towns. Thus 'balik kampong' people need not pass through town and villages
Road Bumps be built as one gets in to town
Education campaign on small town people on danger of passing through
traffic.
Minimum dress code for motorcyclist. We have made helmet compulsory for awhile now. It is about time we introduce compulsory wearing of boots and gloves to reduce injuries when falling off a
motorcycle.
Daytime light although compulsory it is not enforced.
Compulsory rear lights for bicycles at night.
Enforce lighting regulations for all vehicles. Front lights white and rear lights red. Turn signals amber. Many cars have others colors for their lights e.g.Blue light for turning.
Balik Raya Campaign by interested parties be concentrated in small towns and not the cities or at toll plazas. Motorcyclist from the cities going on a balik kampong trip are normally prepared with helmets buckled, jacket,gloves, boots and jeans. It is the local motorcyclists who usually do not have a helmet on or if they do is not tied down and they do not have jackets, gloves and boots. Normally it is just a T shirt, slippers and the bare hands.
Recognize this and we hopefully get a lower motorcyclists death figure in the next OPS SIKAP.
