The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) has voiced its concerns regarding an alarming drop in rear seat belt compliance and awareness amongst motorists, reports Bernama.
MIROS statistics show that the compliance rate for the rear seat belt rule was 47% when introduced in February 2009 (enforcement began on January 1, 2009), but this plummeted to 13% by end-2009, 9.7% by 2010 and 9.2% by 2011.
For some reason compliance rose to 13.5% in 2012, before dropping again to 12.5% in 2013, and 7.7% for the first four months of this year. Needless to say, this is extremely alarming; MIROS says compliance and awareness seem to be borne more out of the fear of being fined.
A US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration study revealed that in an accident involving a vehicle travelling at 50 km/h, the weight of unbuckled rear passengers jumps by 30-60 times their original weight.
In simple terms, MIROS said in a statement, during a 30-50 km/h collision, an unrestrained rear passenger becomes the equivalent of a 3.5-tonne projectile hitting the back of the front passenger.
“You may argue that the front passenger is perhaps shielded by his/her seat back, but we are willing to bet that the (front) seats certainly weren’t designed to absorb three and a half tonnes of force,” it said.
MIROS statistics also reveal that nearly 90% of vehicles currently on Malaysian roads are fitted with rear seat belts, giving seat belt access to 85% of vehicle occupants in the country.
Some people think the implementation of the rear seat belt law has been put on hold, and this is not true, says MIROS. Only older models not equipped with seat belts are exempt from the law.
JPJ director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad told Bernama that 47,302 summons relating to the wearing of seat belts were issued from 2012 to 2013, with motorists from Johor recording the highest number of summons for non-compliance at 1,932 in 2012 and 8,997 in 2013.
“Last year we carried out two major operations throughout the country and this year we hope to increase it to three or four. Basically such operations are carried out are to ensure the compliance of the law,” he said.
Road Safety Department (JKJR) director-general Datuk Dr Tam Weng Wah also expressed his concern. “Awareness among the people is still low with about 20 deaths recorded every day due to such accidents and they could be a mother to someone, a child to someone, a husband to someone, etc,” he told Bernama.
“What is important is for individuals to realise and be aware of its importance and not just buckle up for fear of being penalised.”
Guys, please. Law or no law, fine or no fine, belting up in the back is not difficult to do, and you value your lives as well as those of your loved ones, don’t you?
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Because most believe non-ESC and 2 airbag car is consider safe enough, safety belt is just a extra decoration.
Because most believe car accidents won’t happened to them, so they keep on thinking of smoking others, handling and 140km/h cornering on the road, their life, for the society, is just a extra decoration.
There is a drop in compliance because, very simple, there is no enforement.
We all know what happens in the real Malaysia. Mr A gets caught, Mr A pays RM50 on the spot. All settled.
That is how Malaysia works. Hello JKJR, sort the corruption first. Even I kena RM300 also, I just go to balai next week, pay RM50 can selesai the saman.
Tam Weng Wah, please look into JPJ corruption and not just MIROS statistics. Nearly every Malaysian has encountered a police officer or JPJ officer who has taken money to settle a saman on the road itself ie on the spot without a receipt.
Somemore, the police officer or JPJ officer also very clever. They always say, when taking the money, “Encik ada bagi ikhlas kan?” Then, we answer, “Ya encik, kami bagi ikhlas”. Then all selesai.
Then the problem and the saman goes away. Polis Trafik and JPJ are famous for this. Nothing in Malaysia can be enforced if corruption persists rampantly at every levels of enforcement. JPJ Ismail Ahmad, go down to the ground and see how dirty your officers are.
As usual, this safety belt will have operasi for 1 week. After that, everything is forgotten.
Come on Tam and Ismail, wake up to the real world and see the trafik officers on the road and on the PLUS highways as well as the JPJ officers.
Discipline your officers first before coming out with negative MIROS statistics.
Anyway it will be fun to see the officers catch all the tan sri, datuk, ah long, single number plate, menteri menteri and kroni kroni who don’t use safety belt at the back.
The bola of the officer also kecut immediately and say “Tuan, sila lalu”
Hahaha..very funny. But i wonder why do the police have to tahan the driver in the first place? Saman or duit kopi comes later…
Well, my uncle who is a Tan Sri and driving a single digit car got stopped and summoned recently by police officer solely due to not wearing seat belt while driving.. Yes, its fun to see him paying summon as well. even though using online payment.. I even taught him how to use MyEG as well..
don’t blame it on others shoulder alone, are U 100% sure the cause of accident was corrupted duty officer. U said got summon 300 and settle for 50 only in Police station, that’s mean u also practicing bribes for saving your ass. Don’t just condemned officers on duty,both of U, also can be prosecute. Please contribute somethings to reduce deaths accidents on the road, If U experience death among family members than U know bad is the day.
Now that the ops cermin gelap has been put on hold… they have to find other ways to get to our pocket….. so get your kids/rear passenger to belt up…hahaha
this is boleh…tak kisah attitude
I am a teksi driver in KL. Everyday I take youths in my car and they like to oral each other or bang each other at the back. They get angry when I ask them to buckle up because they say susah mau main.
What to do tuan?
hmm, strangely I also want like to know the solution. Anyone?
Can you let me drive your taxi for a night hehehe…i’ll make sure the kids buckle up or else i’ll join in the fun at the back seat
Only your wishful thinking, isn’t it. Hope you enjoy it.
I want prime minister starts 1st and then people will follow using rear seat belt
Do it because of safety. Not law.
PM/Presidents/Heads of State and most Top Guns do NOT need to buckle up*. ‘Safety’ issue. Their driver and bodyguards as well since seatbelts will impede egress in ‘situasi bahaya’.
* Unless they’re being chased down and the BG and driver tells ’em to buckle up.
I’ve once had a lengthy argument with both my Mom and my sis after asking them to buckle up at the rear while I drive. Their counter argument is that rear seat-belt restrict their movement in an already small car(H.City) and that if I want them to be safe, I should drive safer. I’ve grown tired of arguing with them since, but I do at least remind any passenger in my car to buckle up at the rear. My friend also had to be reminded to buckle up in the front, he says he only buckle up once we hit the highway……..So yea, I can say that outr country rear seat belt is at an alarming level. The only tiime Malaysian buckle up at the back is during a Police roadblock.
I remembered in S.Korea, the tour guide and Bus driver was madly adament that our belts were strap on at almost all places except back roads.
Typical Malaysians always have the mentality of “If I am fated to die, no matter how cautiously safe I am I will still die”.
This is why in Malaysia, no one cares about the standard safety equipment fitted to their cars. It is also the same reason why UMW is still doing so well even though they strip their vehicles of safety features.
That is actually very true, but up to a certain extent lah. Malaysian mindset is the one at fault here. Better be safe than sorry, right?
You are absolutely right. Some cars are still using lap buckle seatbelt for middle passenger. We should encourage more Malaysians to buy only cars with at least 6 airbags. Your kids are always seated at the rear. You are injured when your head hit the pillars/windows and curtain bags will protect your little ones.
Wish this website will promote more on cars with 6 airbags. For the sake of all Malaysians, do something. At least write some comments for cars with only 2 airbags and encourage your readers to buy cars with full airbags. Give special prominence to below 100k cars that have this features eg. Preve, H. City, Picanto, Sylphy ……
They do, actually. They constantly criticise cars that lack of safety features, and praise cars that include lots of safety features.
Although I do agree that safety should be emphasized even more than currently.
Next time drive 50, then hit the brakes as hard as you can (if there’s no one behind you). Just randomly, out of nowhere, when they aren’t wearing seatbelts. That should teach them a lesson.
I just say I’ll stop the car and let them walk if they don’t put on seatbelts. I don’t want to die because of some reckless idiot behind me. It works.
LOL, And get ban from driving?…..all but my old Saga are my parent’s. And these are my family you know. And hitting the breaks in my old Saga, I’am worried I might jam them. As much as I hate it, family first.
Not whether how safe you can drive. If such bad luck that some idiot hit towards your car, you will still fly. Then only people will regret why they didn’t buckle up.
In Qatar where i work, the locals(Arabs) will go to any length not to wear seat belts. Chief reason being they dont want to crease their neatly pressed robe.. and many of them opined that wearing seat belts means you are not a good driver, hence not macho enough :’)
I once had a friend in the back who wouldn’t buckle up, so I sped up and took a corner rather quickly. He rolled from one side of the seat to the other, and I was laughing madly with my brother in front. To this day, my friend always buckles up.
Two words; Natural selection
Smart people will always buckle up and drive safely. Stupid and lazy people won’t.
Lol couldn’t agree more. Really like your statement.
Anyways I wonder where are comments like “who needs rear seat belts? Or any safety feature? Kommon la it’s a no brainer, driving attitude is the real issue! No need anything else! If you drive super slow like kura-kura, stay 500m off other cars, sure no accident punya!”
Forget about rear seat belt…
Still have a lot people not fasten front seatbelt when drive…. Included polices
Front seatbelts are useless if the person behind doesn’t fasten his seatbelt. He’ll become a cruise missile and kill the one in front.
People in Malaysia are funny. They want the best tech, they want the safest car, they want 10 airbags, they want ESP ESC EJL IOL JUL LOL QGH JYA, etc but when you ask them to buckle up, they say “No need one la”. So why spend the extra money on all these safety equipments? Not buckling up will render them useless anyway!
I’ve been a driver or front passenger probably 95% of the time that the 5% when I’m a rear passenger, it’s just like automatic that I’m reaching for the seatbelt when I’m seated. Once wearing seatbelt has become a habit, it doesn’t matter where you seated, you will tend to buckle up, … and it doesn’t matter how far you’re driving, whether a short drive to 7-eleven or balik kampung, you will buckle up too.
As the majority of Malaysians are so thick with their third class mentality,the only way forward is to have a strict enforcement.
It’s sad to see that there are less and less enforcement these days. Forget about rear seat belts, even half of the drivers I see these days do no put on seat belts!
The girl in the first photo has a nice pair of busts…
Wrong discussion thread.. go somewhere else
but he has a point…
:)
I know right… Check out the one in front on the left hand side in white.. sweet..
Rear airbags :-D
Why the low compliance with these laws?
Simply,the enforcement is haphazardly planned and when it does happens,the public is questioning whether TRANSPARENCY AND CORRUPTION is addressed.
In Australia,the citizens are not fearful of the traffic laws BUT obey it it to the maximum,although it is such a HUGE country.They can say law enforcers are miles away,but still chose to obey traffic laws.IT is the MINDSET.
the cops can’t even be bothered to do the same in their cruisers or vans, so nobody cares.
see my reply above on why PM tak payah pakai seatbelt.
raya sudah dekat. mahu cari makan.
cermin gelap, HID, seat belt depan dan belakang , bodykit kereta, modifikasi enjin , eksos besar mesti mahu tangkap tahu!!
We should start showing meaningful (and importantly gory) public safety videos on TV and in cinemas to promote seat belt use AND safer driving. Countries such as Australia or the UK have done it well.
The videos show very well, the effect of deaths on the roads to YOU, FAMILY and OTHER road users.
Some examples below (not all about seat belts):
Texting while driving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E
Seat belts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Qhmdk4VNs
Slow down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5EyOnccJLg
Dangerous driving (WARNING: QUITE SHOCKING): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YEoYGArMas
Distracted driving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E
Real life example and demonstration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_WFCaN2Ung
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcVSQh5MbTo
Hard hitting information and strict enforcement is needed. We have the 12th highest fatality rates in the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Nah, Malaysians think it’s fate if you die. So God must really hate Malaysians, eh?
Anyway I support the idea of showing gory videos.
Yes, I agree on the gory videos. Show them during prime times on TV and before movie starts.
totally agreed “beating up in the back is not difficult to do”, we only have one live. not 3 or more as video game. 90% car are fitted with rear seat belts but only few wear it.
After so many years, now only they realise the compliance rate is alarmingly low? As with most things, we lack consistency and persistence. Even wearing safety helmets while riding motorbikes (which was made compulsory long ago) is not complied to. Malaysians’ level of awareness when it comes to road safety is unfortunately very, very low. We still see children roaming around freely in moving vehicles, front passengers with their feet on the dashboard (which is quite challenging to do if you have the seatbelts on), all sorts of things (from stickers, pillows to basket of flowers) blocking the rear screen, driving at night with lights off and all kinds of weird things on the road. Somehow nobody is doing anything unless there is “operasi” going on. Sad but true.
im a stingy person…even settle police with rm50 duit kopi i also dont want..so i always buckle up to avoid unnecessary “spending” …
hello.anybody here knows where can i install rear seat belts on my recently purchased corolla ae90 year 2000 model. tried to search the internet but i cant find one that give that information,,went to a few car accessory shops they dont do it either.
for those that said dont need to do it because its and old car and not compulsory, im not installing it for the law.but for the safety.. hope anyone here can assist.Thanks