Self-skidding main cause of fatal road accidents — IGP

KUALA LUMPUR: An analysis carried out by the police on the ‘Op Selamat' operation in 2017 has shown that self-skidding was the main cause of fatal accidents among road users in the country with 142 cases, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said.

He said other major contributors were entering the opposite lane, not being aware of other vehicles coming out of or entering a junction, tailgating, making u-turns, and driving against the traffic.

“More than 22,000 accidents were recorded during the operation this year from June 8 to 22, resulting in a total of 248 deaths,” he told reporters after the award presentation ceremony for the best Op Selamat 2018 contingent and district at Bukit Aman here yesterday

Mohamad Fuzi said the police would work with the Malaysian Highway Authority, highway concessionaires and related agencies to do a post-mortem on the issue and make improvements for future operations.

He added that the increase in the number of vehicles on the road which was greater than the road network expansion rate compounded the problem, with the high volume of cars on the road during the festive season increasing the risk of accidents.

In the meantime, in line with the Op Selamat theme, “Rumah Selamat, Selamat Sampai ke Destinasi” (Safe Home, Reach Destination Safely) he said over 128,000 patrols were done around vacant premises during the festive preiod.

He said 37,973 ‘balik kampung' reports were filed during Op Selamat this time, with 27,176 made by filling up the balik kampung form; through the Volunteer Smartphone Patrol application (10,566) and 999 hotline (231).

Mohamad Fuzi said although the number of house break-ins and theft cases increased to 731 cases during Op Selamat this year compared to 629 cases in 2017, the police managed to arrest 426 suspects and solve 91 breakin cases.