Malaysia has received a poor rating on its effectiveness in implementing the seat belt law and raising general awareness on road safety by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to a report by theSun, the latest WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 states that Malaysia received only a score of four out a maximum of 10 for the national seat belt law enforcement.
Said report has documented the nation’s seat belt compliance rate to be at 77% for the front seats and only 13% for rear seats. “Wearing a seat-belt can reduce deaths among rear-seat car occupants by 25% to 75% while it also reduces the risk of death among front-seat passengers by 40% to 65%,” noted the report.
Earlier this year, a separate report by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) found that only 7-9% of Malaysians wear seat belts in the rear of a car. In February 2009, when the rear seat belt law was introduced, compliance rate was rated by MIROS at 47% before falling over the years.
The report also went on to highlight the lack of regulation in Malaysia for child restraining systems as well as restrictions for children sitting in front. “Infant seats, child seats and booster seats can reduce child deaths by 54% to 80% in the event of a crash,” added the report. Out of the 105 countries included in said report, 53 (which represent 1.2 billion people) are noted to have stringent child restraint laws.
According to an earlier report, the Malaysian government could only introduce a mandatory child seat (child restraint systems) law as early as 2019, citing cost, economy and public awareness issues. The Road Safety Department had earlier on received complaints from motorists on the steep costs required for a child seat – though it has to be said that there are ECE R44-certified child car seats on sale from as low as RM400.
The WHO report also rated Malaysia with a score of five out of ten on enforcement efforts made in implementing drink-driving laws. Said report stated that 23% of deaths involving motorcyclists and motorists in Malaysia were indeed alcohol-related. “Better laws are needed on speed, drinking and driving, use of motorcycle helmets, seat belts and child restraints,” commented WHO director-general, Margaret Chan.
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WHO we are third world country la, what do you expect… car seat RM400 not many can afford. Many ride motor no $$$ buy car due to tax.
Pipu buy imported Pajeros yet reluctant to buy child seat. So what is their excuse? Topkek
Cant help it. 99% PDRM officers take money or duit kopi to let people off the hook. How to solve this?
Easy.
They ask, u dun give.
You kena saman, you pay, dun just klentong.
Pipu honk, u dun run redlight.
Pipu do F1, u dun follow.
Pipu slow down take 4D at accident, u honk them 9-9.
Be considerate to considerate drivers.
Use signals and common sense even when others dun.
How difficult is that.
rasuah la brother. PDRM must stop all their polis officer from asking for money. That is why the back seat belt law also became rubbish
Do you need the Gov to hire a nanny stationed beside your car to remind you to buckle your seat belts every time you get into your car?
Proton should recall their safety belts!
It is very hard to see all safety belts are functional in any more than 5 year-old Proton.
Huhu…bubarkan miros…buat malu jer.
This is more to boleh pipu mentality not MIROS fault..MIROS can do every awareness program but if pipu dont want to follow. What else they can do..
agreed… doesnt matter if ur car is 10 star ncap safety rating…it be useless if the simplest safety measure as to fasten the seatbelt while driving is not heeded.
3rd world Government treat Rakyat as dirt… Rakyat can improve safety as Government only care for the cronies and profit !!!
Malaysian dunno about CAR safety just like the AUNTY
How to make it effective? even our police officers don’t wear the seatbelt. kempen sana sini, tapi LEO (law enforcement officers) tak pakai. I only see some JPJ and SPAD officers buckling up.
Polis have a reason why they dun need to wear. JPJ, SPAD, and YOU dun have, so please follow the law.
Even awareness also quite low. Pangkuanak while driving.. anak sandar pada dashboard.
sayang anak katanya
even during delivery of the new cars, the salesman tak tekankan kepada customer supaya buckle up.
how now brown cow? nak salahkan government? It’s us to blame.
Macai kata jangan kesah. Terus bash Gov. Kalau tak bash makna u anjing BN
LOL…anything new ah?..forever same !
Big ego drivers with low mentality & low budget cars…that explains all.
Tax free for child car seat pls …
I cannot understand why they can only make it a law by 2019? Need time to create crony company…?
pipu complaint to dont implement yet..the pipu say child seat is costly.
when going for lunch with office mate, i’m the only one who buckle up… the other just laugh at me…. huhu…
And here we are lamenting the lack of government’s enforcement for this matter. True enough, but the real effort starts from ourselves. We should be proactive ourselves to improve safety awareness amongst our peers and families. at the very least we must share the knowledge.
Blaming others will not solve the problem. See in ourselves first what we did or did not before pointing fingers.
Rakyat says its easier to blame Gov for everything wrong. If you dun bash Gov means you are BN lapdog
Not surprising Malaysians score very low in safety awareness. Just look at the 55k MyVi full spec on the road without ESP and 90k+ VIOS TRD on the road without ESP. People still buying them despite better options available. Mana ada safety awareness???
ya true bro,. at least Proton has ESC,.
The moment I got my child last year, immediately got myself a baby seat for rear seats. Its the one without Isofix but with belt and tether. It was only RM280 and it works wonders. Fully adjustable for newborn up to age 3, front and rear facing. I think anyone can afford RM280 for 3 years of usage? I see parents able to afford RM300 worth of Vape Mods and RM500 worth of car decals yet complain about baby seats.
We always like to hold the baby and regardless of any information, photos of decapitated babies on our roads, smashed heads, they still will carry their child on their lap or leave unfastened on the back seat. Mcm mana nak ajar?? Nak kata org kampung, orng bandar pon sama.
Ask the Ministers first to take LRT. Each Minister got like 10 car entourage. Waste petrol and waste everything. Ask the Minister to sit in LRT first.
nah, M’sians are allergic to seatbelts.
WHO should realize that a government cant change their citizen and especially their culture. If a government could do so then this world would no longer have poverty or even the needs for NGO’s. And if they were to compare developed nations against developing & under-developed nations then they should also consider the reason why developed nations has a far larger educated base-population, and how highly educated people tend to be more critically aware and considerate about their personal safety & the people around them. In short, regardless of how safe and reliable the vehicle or road is, as long as the commuters and pedestrians fail to understand the limitations of those technologies, personal physiology and efficient traffic flows, the roads will never be safe, and the only way for these users to have those knowledge and practices is with education, not re-education. However it’s incredibly difficult to teach critical-thinking processes to a working adult, because their thought processes has already been ingrained from young. So if you are really that worried about the state of the world road safety then please talk to the education ministry to ramp up critical thinking classes for schools children, at least in 18 years time we will have safer roads.
Pay so much for a Car and get taxed like hell. Poor malaysians always suffer when it comes to safety. Public transport is horrendous in bolehland.
Toll prices and public transport fees increase somemore. Our G want us to have a short lifespan? Crime rates will rise for sure.
Extremely sad and dark days ahead for the rakyat. There are millions more who cant even afford a kapcai honda and a house people!
Even if government implement law to enforce use seat belt for every passenger, there will always be a person who refuse to wear it even the driver itself. Stop by a police officer, why not use seat belt,, they shouting and keep asking what my fault what my fault several time… aiyo…