Drop in number of fatal accidents last year

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: The number of road fatalities nationwide fell for a second successive year last year, although motorcyclists and pillion riders continue to top the victims’ list.
Last year, 6,200 people lost their lives compared with 6,228 in 2004, a 0.5 per cent decrease. In 2003, there were 6,283 deaths.
Motorcyclists and pillion riders accounted for 3,591 deaths, compared with 3,500 in 2004 and 3,548 in 2003.
The good news is that fatal accidents dropped from 5,678 to 5,623, although the number of accidents jumped from 326,815 to 328,264 cases.
Federal traffic police chief SAC II Nooryah Mat Anvar is concerned with the increasing fatalities among motorcyclists.
"Our statistics show that speeding is the main cause of accidents among motorcyclists," she said at the Federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman yesterday.
"And what’s more worrying is the trend among children aged from 11 to 15 riding motorcycles and dying in the process."
Nooryah said in accidents involving other road users, speeding was also the main cause of death.
"We have advised motorists to obey the speed limit many times but to no avail and when they are fined, they complain.
"Speeding leads to higher fuel consumption and when fuel prices go up, they also complain. So, when you break the speed limit, you may not only be fined but end up spending more on fuel."
Motorists came second in the casualty list with 1,244 deaths. Other vehicles (764) came next, followed by pedestrians (601).
Selangor registered the highest number of accidents with 87,705, followed by Kuala Lumpur (45,000); Johor (42,606); Penang (30,934); and Perak (27,225).