Main Page » Media/Press Room » Speeches » Speech By Minister Of Transport Datuk Ong Tee Keat 2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar “Towards Vision Zero” - 18 ogos 08, Impiana Hotel

Speech By Minister Of Transport Datuk Ong Tee Keat 2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar “Towards Vision Zero” - 18 ogos 08, Impiana Hotel

Speech By Minister Of Transport Datuk Ong Tee Keat
2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar
“Towards Vision Zero”
18 AUGUST 2008, 4.00 p.m.
IMPIANA HOTEL

 

Your Excellency Helena Sangeland
Ambassador of Sweden ,

 

Y. Bhg. Datuk Suret Singh
Director General, Road Safety Department

Pengerusi Media Prima;

 

Y. Bhg. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah
Director General, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research ;

 

Distinguished Guests,


Friends from the Media,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen;

 

I wish to extend a warm welcome to all local and international participants of the 2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar. To our international participants from Indonesia, Singapore, Philippine and Thailand, I wish you a pleasant stay in Malaysia. Although you have a packed schedule, I hope you will be able to extend your stay to visit some of our many tourists’ attractions before you return to your home country.

 

The theme of this year’s seminar “Towards Vision Zero” is very pertinent and timely as Malaysia has launched a pilot project for the Malaysia Zero Fatality Vision in the district of Putrajaya on 1st June 2008 modelled after Sweden’s Zero Fatality Vision. Among the programmes currently in progress in support of the Zero Fatality Vision in Putrajaya are:

  • Review of speed limits, crash barriers, road signs and road markings;
  • Road Safety Education, traffic wardens and road safety clubs in schools;
  • Community Based Advocacy of bicycle, child and adult helmets and seatbelt usage;
  • Advocacy of road safety via the electronic media;
  • Rehabilitation of accident prone locations;
  • Encouraging use of stage bus services and Park & Ride facilities; and
  • Review of the Putrajaya motorcycle lanes network with a view either to make them seamless or convert them to pedestrian cum cycling lanes.

I am truly honoured to be given the opportunity to officiate this auspicious event which brings together renowned international road safety experts to share their knowledge and experiences with countries in this region. After the resounding success of the first Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar in 2006, I am sure this year’s seminar will be even more fruitful and impactful.

I understand that the Embassy of Sweden has kindly invited and flown in four leading Swedish road safety experts to share their expertise, knowledge and experience with seminar participants. I hope that this biannual seminar series will continue to be held biannually in the years ahead to enhance capacity building in the field of road safety in the ASEAN region.


Road crashes contribute to an annual loss of 1.2 million lives globally. Road safety injuries are currently among the top 10 leading causes of death and disability in low and medium-income countries. If no appropriate and prompt interventions are undertaken, it is projected to be the third leading cause of death and disability in these countries by 2020.

In Malaysia, more than 6,200 Malaysians are killed annually on our roads and many more are seriously injured. However, there has been some improvement in terms of fatality rate. The fatality index per 10,000 registered vehicles dropped from 8.2 in 1996 to 3.7 in 2007. The fatality index per billion Vehicle Kilometre Travelled (VKT) also saw an improvement from 40.4 in 1996 to 20.6 in 2007. (For year 2007, fatality index per 10,000 registered cars is 1.64 whereas fatality index per 10,000 registered motorcycles is 4.59). More importantly, injury accidents have declined 39% from 54,083 in 2004 to 33,999 in 2007 since the establishment of the Road Safety Department.

However, these figures are still a far cry from the international benchmarks. Road traffic deaths and injuries today place an enormous strain on our country’s health care system and national economy. Malaysia suffers an annual loss of approximately RM 9.0 billion based on estimated value of RM1.2 million for each life lost.

On the 31st of March 2008, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Sultanate of Oman, His Excellency, Ambassador Fuad Al-Hinai introduced a new draft resolution entitled Improving Global Road Safety. This resolution which was based on the Secretary-General’s Report on road safety crisis was later adopted unanimously. ,

This significant resolution reaffirms the importance of addressing global safety and encourages States to strengthen commitment. It calls for the further implementation of the recommendations of the World report on road traffic injury prevention, for political commitment, capacity building, and advocacy. Also included in the resolution is an invitation to the UN Road Safety Collaboration to promote multi-sectoral collaboration by organising Global Road Safety Weeks.

At the international level, there is now a growing consensus that a minimum of 10% of road infrastructure spending by aid agencies and development banks should be directed to dedicated road safety improvement programmes. This initiative was one of the key recommendations of the Commission for Global Road Safety in its “Make Roads Safe Report”, chaired by Lord Robertson who is also the former NATO Secretary General at the 5th UN Road Safety Collaboration Meeting held in Geneva on October 30th 2006.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Malaysian Government is committed to minimise injuries and fatalities due to road crashes. In line with this policy, the Ministry of Transport recently introduced a new legislation on the mandatory wearing of the rear seatbelts for all private vehicles from 1st January 2009. This new initiative has the potential to prevent the loss of 200 lives, 360 serious injuries and 1,020 light injuries annually.

The increase in the price of petrol has not only affected our people economically but also poses a serious road safety challenge in Malaysia as we experienced a 30% increase in motorcycle registrations in the first 6 months of 2008 as well as a modal shift of private passenger trips away from cars to motorcycles. Motorcyclists are our most vulnerable and highest risk road users. The fatalities involving our motorcyclists increased from 2,050 fatalities to 2,239 fatalities for the first seven months of this year, compared with 2007. This represents an increase of 9%.

Usaha pihak kerajaan dalam mengurangkan kadar kemalangan sememangnya memerlukan penglibatan dan penyertaan serta sokongan semua lapisan masyarakat terutamanya para majikan, pemimpin masyarakat, ahli politik, pemimpin agama, pakar pendidikan, badan professional dan swasta bagi mencapai matlamat mengurangkan kadar kemalangan di negara kita.

To encourage our motorcyclists to leave their vehicles at home and switch to public transport, our Government is working to improve public transport infrastructure and services.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Research findings have shown that the main cause of deaths amongst motorcyclists who form 50% of our road users are head injuries (68%). In Malaysia, the compliance rate of helmet wearing is high in urban areas approximately 90% to 95% compared to rural areas where average compliance ranges from 30% to 50%.

The low rate of helmet compliance in our rural areas prompted the Road Safety Department to launch the Malaysian National Helmet Initiative with the tagline “Sponsor a Helmet, Save a Life” on the 4th of August 2008. Through this initiative, the Road Safety Department is working closely with its major media organisations to promote and encourage the participation of the corporate sector and public to support this noble cause.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am confident that with our continuing and ongoing efforts and commitment, we will gradually but surely see a decline in the number of fatality and injury related road accidents in Malaysia in line with the target of a 50% reduction of fatalities by 2010 as envisaged under the Road Safety Plan of Malaysia 2006 – 2010.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed towards the success of this biannual 2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar. I am sure a lot of hard work has been put into ensuring the success of this seminar. I hope that this biannual Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar series will continue to be held for many years to come to address the pressing issue of the need for capacity building for road safety in the ASEAN region. With that, I declare the 2nd Sweden-Malaysia International Road Safety Seminar officially open.

Thank you.

 

Viagra | Adderall | Viagra Online | Levitra | Free Viagra | Cheap Viagra