18 DEATHS a day

PETALING JAYA: Despite the many road safety campaigns being carried out, there were 6,706 deaths on Malaysian roads last year – an average of 18 a day.

Of the fatalities, 62% involved motorcyclists (3,816) and pillion riders (387). Some 11,550 others suffered injuries in the accidents that were largely attributed to human factors.

Federal Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department director SAC Datuk Mahamad Akhir Darus, said in the recently released “2015 St a t i s t i c a l Report on Road Accidents” there were 489,606 road crashes nationwide last year, an increase of 2.8% from 2014.

He noted, however, that the number of fatalities and injuries saw a reduction of 7.3%, as compared to 2014.

The highest casualties involved those aged between 16 and 20 years (934 cases), followed by 21 to 25-yearolds (828), 26 to 30 years (641), 31 to 35-year-olds (579), with the others aged above 36.