‘Youth at risk of road deaths’
Ministry seeks public feedback on minimum driving age
PUTRAJAYA: The Transport Ministry is seeking public feedback on whether the minimum driving age should be increased.
Statistically, those aged between 16 and 20 recorded the highest percentage of road deaths in the country, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.
“The number of road fatalities increases every year, although 2017 saw the number of deaths reduced to 6,740 from 7,150.
“However, 6,740 is still a high number. It means that there is an average of 20 deaths per day.
“Out of the total deaths, the highest number involved those aged between 16 and 20, which is 1,161 deaths. The second highest involved those aged between 21 and 25, which is 1,000 deaths.
“So, should the minimum driving age be reviewed? The ministry is not making a decision here, but we would like to hear what the public thinks,” Loke told a press conference after a working visit to the Road Safety Department (JKJR).
He said the people were welcome to give their feedback to the ministry via email or on social media platforms.
Also present at the press conference were Transport Ministry secretarygeneral Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim and JKJR directorgeneral Datuk Rosli Isa.
Loke also said that JKJR would have to come up with “out of the box” ways to organise advocacy programmes with a limited budget.
“The department informed me that only RM1mil is allocated for advocacy programmes and they were hoping it could be increased.
“But I have told them I know the current Finance Minister (Lim Guan Eng) personally; he is a very prudent person, so it would be difficult to get extra allocation.
“So, I have suggested that we come up with ‘out of the box’ ways to implement advocacy programmes. But even with the limited budget, there must not be any compromise,” said Loke.
He also proposed that companies such as insurance firms or car companies work with JKJR to produce road safety advocacy short films as a form of corporate social responsibility.
On another matter, Loke said services by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) should not be stopped, even though it had been announced that the agency would be disbanded.
“I have been informed that some SPAD offices stopped processing renewals and such after we announced that it would be disbanded.
“Its integration into JPJ (Road Transport Department) will take some time, but SPAD’s operations should not be stopped,” he said.