Gov’t asked to audit highways to ensure safety – measures to be taken to curb fatal accidents on LPT2

Crash accident collision

The government has been asked to audit highways in the country, given the rising number of fatalities from accidents, The Star reports. The call was made by road expert Dr Muhammad Marizwan Abdul Manan, senior researcher with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).

He questioned why no audits by independent bodies had been carried out despite the high fatality rate from accidents on highways, and said that with the lives of the toll-paying public at stake, these actions were necessary.

“Statistics show that 70% are single accidents (not involving other vehicles) and about 30% are due to faulty roads. But do the highways have features or barriers that could save lives? It’s a basic thing. Everything should and must be audited. If audits can be done in departments, why can’t they be done on our Malaysian highways?” he said.

He stated that an audit should cover the East Coast Expressway 2 (LPT2), which has seen 85 deaths and 1,991 accidents since its opening in 2011.

He said that highway designers would never compromise on safety, but questioned if the actual building had fully complied with the design parameters or if construction was done to specifications. As an example, he pointed out that certain stretches of highways were bumpy (due to unequal settlement) and created “water ponds” when there was heavy rain.

“Many will tell us that the highways are built according to international designs. I agree with that. But were the design specifications followed through during the construction? Independent auditors will be able to tell us that,” said Dr Muhammad, who was involved in the designing of the LPT2 some 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Terengganu government has said it will take prompt measures to curb fatal accidents on the LPT2, Bernama reports.

These will include stationing Malaysian Civil Defence Department teams along the route and placing more signboards as well as getting the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to identify high-risk areas, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman told reporters. The highway concessionaire will also be asked to allow more kiosks to be set up on the route’s rest and recreation areas.

Negligence was identified as the main cause of fatal accidents on the LPT2, Ahmad Razif said, with most cases occurring during the day and along straight stretches of the expressway. He however said that the state government gave its assurance that the wavy stretches along the route had been remedied, and the highway was safe for use.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • This is bolehland! They will bribe the auditors!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 5
    • Then just like Malaysian polis, the rakyat should blame the taker (auditor/polis) not the giver (Gov/offender). This is standard procedure to salah siapa in Malaysia.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 5
      • Shameful Proton on Oct 20, 2015 at 11:27 am

        Easy to talk when you are the privileged and get everything free in life.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 6
        • aku racing kat Kesas pakai Preve pun tak macam ni.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
        • So where is the killer Myvi driver that costed the whole family in Pajero?

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
        • Easy to talk if you dun intend to follow the rules yet aimlessly bash. Just look at my example above and do you think I’m wrong with rakyat perception?

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
      • Syukurlah kita tinggal negara selamat. Tipu sikit tak ada hal

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
        • Memang lah macai boleh terima tipu dari hero mereka. Kata tak nak tumbang MB, lepas tu tak nak duduk atas sendiri, lepas tu tak nak letak MyBini dia kat situ. Memang boleh dipercayai kan?

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Audit Proton Also on Oct 20, 2015 at 10:16 am

    How to audit the highway when the car companies also cheating. Proton Saga is 1 star but Proton cheat to become 3 star.

    Can we audit Proton also?

    Hello Government, maybe fatalities may not solely be highways, it maybe because companies like Proton are cheating and lying. Who knows, even Proton airbags also don’t inflate??

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 4
    • Shameful Proton on Oct 20, 2015 at 11:24 am

      1 star rating but tell the world 3 star rating. I think other Proton cars are the same. Once you lie, you will always lie.

      the 5 star cars, will be 3 star probably

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • seancorr (Member) on Oct 20, 2015 at 10:45 am

    They dare to hike the toll rates when they themselves cut corners.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • The Dr is wrong that designers dun create unsafe highways. Why else would they have allowed gajah lembu kambings to criss cross highways.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Juz close shop Perodua, rate of accident will be decrease. Juru toll accident was telling you Perodua is big liar and cheating the “knowledgeble” Malaysian

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 3
    • Sukumaran A.S.Nair on Oct 21, 2015 at 12:33 am

      3 ‘E’s are being neglected in our highways! 1. Education . 2. Engineering .3. Execution by authorities.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • east cost mari on Oct 20, 2015 at 11:01 am

    one of my friend sister diet on LDP2 when her car skip and turn turtle on heavy pouring day while standing at road side waiting for help was hit by other car that on similar situation..understand certain stretch of road are full of lorries leaked palm oil that will endanger others road users when raining time..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • More contracts! on Oct 20, 2015 at 11:43 am

    After audits, which i m sure no one is “salah” or didnt do a proper job.. then Govt can issue more contracts “for the rakyat” to fix the audit points… why not more audits??? In fact we should audit all roads in the country!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Statistics showed that 40% of Perodua driver speeding and lost control cause the accidents. 30% of Perodua owner drive too slow cause traffic jam and affect car behind accidents. Only 25% are normal and good attitude road user.
    Therefore, is good Perodua close shop then open a school training those peoples how to be a good driving behavior.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
 

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