Sarawak records 16,776 road accidents, 321 deaths in nine months

SARAWAK recorded 16,776 road accidents from January to September this year.

Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin said according to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), of these accidents, 293 were fatal, resulting in 321 deaths, 106 were serious accidents, 171 were minor accidents, while the remaining 16,206 involved vehicle damage only.

He said the data shows that motorcars were involved in more than half of all accidents, followed by four-wheel-drive vehicles and motorcycles.

“During the same period, PDRM issued 90,556 summons for major traffic offences in Sarawak.

“These included 88,189 for speeding, 802 for using mobile phones while driving, 528 for running red lights, 270 for crossing double lines and 767 for cutting queues,” he said this during his ministerial winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.

Meanwhile, as of September, the Sarawak Road Transport Department (RTD) has recorded a total of 4,547 summons for major traffic offences.

Lee said the most frequent violation was not wearing a seatbelt or helmet, accounting for 2,927 summons.

“Heavy vehicle offences were also significant, with 900 summons issued for carrying dangerous goods and 246 summons for overloading,” he said.

Among other violations, he added that RTD logged 199 summons for running red lights, 160 for using a mobile phone while driving, 77 for crossing or overtaking on double lines, 33 for cutting queues, and five for driving on the emergency lane.

“To address this issue, my ministry continues to work closely with the Sarawak Road Safety Council including PDRM, RTD, the Public Works Department (PDW) Sarawak and other relevant agencies.

“These efforts include road safety awareness campaigns during festive seasons, especially along major roads and the Pan Borneo Highway,” he added.