‘Negligence to blame for Miri’s road accidents’
MIRI: A lack of awareness and negligence have been blamed for the majority of road accidents here, according to councillor Karambir Singh.
The Miri City Council (MCC) Road Safety Sub-committee chairman said the committee has been going to the ground, checking and identifying road improvements required in and around Miri, and found that the roads around most parts of the city are in “reasonable condition”.
“With scheduled maintenance and housekeeping, which is a necessary part of the road safety system, we realised that the factors contributing to road accidents are borne from the lack of awareness and negligence.
“Safety mindset should be practised by every road user. It is a critical component of road safety because it helps minimise road accidents.
“Others may not believe it, but awareness does have an impact. Those who are repeat offenders, stronger measures such as suspension of driving licence should be imposed,” he told The Borneo Post.
For drink driving cases, he suggested the cancellation of driving licences and prison terms should be used more often.
“Instead of harming lives with such irresponsible actions, they should opt for the service of taxis or e-hailing,” he said.
Over the last month, the subcommittee, set up in 2016, has been checking on unnecessary road hazards that may affect the public.
“From our observation, there are obviously more improvements that could be made, which of course, are subject to the availability of funds.
“Potholes are another frequently occurring situation that may cause hazards, and the city council’s quick action to fix these are very important,” added Karambir.