20 JAYWALKERS KILLED ON KL ROADS SINCE JANUARY
Most did not use pedestrian bridges, say police
ATOTAL OF 20 pedestrians have been killed crossing the roads in the nation’s capital since January. The majority of them, said city police, involved those who crossed roads illegally, despite the presence of pedestrian bridges nearby.
City Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (TEID) chief Assistant Commissioner Zulkefly Yahya said these involved mostly senior citizens, aged 55 and above, and children below the age of 9.
At the same time, he said, motorists needed to play their role and be more aware of people around them.
Zulkefly said motorists needed to stay sharp and slow down their vehicles if they saw pedestrians along the road or crossing the road,
“We are monitoring these cases, which happen frequently.
“After the case of the senior citizen who was killed in Jalan Raja Laut (on Saturday), we have decided to review what sort of follow-up action needs to be taken by TEID to solve this problem.
“But this is something that needs the attention of all involved... pedestrians, motorists, TEID.
“This is something that involves lives, so let’s all ensure that things like this do not happen again,” he told the New Straits Times Press.
On Saturday, a woman in her 70s and her friend, also a senior citizen, were crossing Jalan Raja Laut when they were hit by a lorry.
The first woman was killed and her friend seriously injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, a Kuala Lumpur City Hall spokesman said the local authority regularly held operations against jaywalkers.
“We hold these operations two or three times a month, and jaywalkers are issued summonses of RM300 each.
“And it’s not just us... police, too, can issue summonses to jaywalkers. In fact, there have been joint operations between us and police.”
Checks by the NSTP in Jalan Raja Laut revealed that the majority of people used the pedestrian bridges.
However, a trader, who wanted to be known only as Ali, said many people, mostly locals, were still too stubborn to realise that using the pedestrian bridges would be better for them.
“I guess they value time more than they value their lives. They are always ‘chasing’ time... going to work, the bank... wherever it is they want to go.
“Today, however, I see that almost everyone is using the bridge. Perhaps because of the accident. I hope this keeps up.”