INDIVIDUAL EXERCISES (BASED ON CHAPTER 5 Part 1 Notes: Traffic Safety) –

WEEK 11

i. Road Accident
ii. Road Safety Interventions
iii. Motorcycle Safety Plan

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS.

1. Discuss what road accidents is.

 It is a rare, random, multi-factor event always precede by a situation in which one
or more road users have failed to cope with their environment resulting in a collision
on the public highway which should be recorded by the police.
 Accidents are rare because they do not occur very often to an individual.
 Accidents are random because they tend to occur at a variety of relatively
unpredictable locations.
 Accidents are multi-factor events because they can be viewed as sequential chain
of events.

2. On the whole, it can be concluded that there is an improvement in road safety in Malaysia.
This is proven by the reduction in the road fatality rate which gives an indication of the
level of road safety in a country. In 1991, Malaysia recorded a road fatality rate of 7.2
deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles. Ten years later, in 2000, the value dropped to 5.7 deaths
per 10,000 motor vehicles. In 2002, the value further depreciated to 4.9 and in 2005, it fell
to 4.17. The latest road fatality rate is 3.73 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles. Originally,
the government targeted to bring the rate down to 4.0 deaths per 10,000 vehicles by the
year 2010, but this was achieved much earlier in 2006 (3.98 deaths per 10,000 vehicles).
By the year 2020 Malaysia is benchmarking against the world’s best to reduce the fatality
rate to 2.0 deaths per 10,000 vehicles (instead of 3.0 deaths per 10,000 vehicles that was
initially targeted). Based on your opinion, explain TWO (2) actions that can be done in
order to bring down the road fatality rate to 2.0 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles in year
2020.
 Develop the right attitude about driving.
Many teen auto accidents are a result of attitude and maturity, not skills or
knowledge. Make a commitment to yourself to practice a responsible attitude about
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 driving. You're controlling over 3,000 pounds of fast-moving metal, and you owe
it to yourself, your passengers and other drivers to drive responsibly.
 Keep it slow and safe for starters.
Fast-moving, high volumes of traffic can make you feel uncomfortable, so avoid
them until you can get enough supervised driving experience. Then you can
gradually introduce more difficult driving situations, like highway driving, merging
and driving in cities.

3. Discuss in details THREE (3) contributory factors in road accidents.

 Human factors
- Perceptual errors where driver or pedestrian looks but fails to see, distraction or lack
of attention and misjudgement of speed or distance.
- Lack of skill which inexperience, lack of judgement and wrong action or decision.
- Wrongful manner of execution which deficiency in actions like too fast and
deficiency in behaviour like irresponsible or reckless.
- Impairment (alcohol, fatigue, drugs, illness, emotional stress)
 Environment factors
- Adverse road design like unsuitable layout and intersection design and poor
visibility due to layout.
- Adverse environment like slippery road, flooded surface, lack of maintenance and
weather conditions.
- Inadequate road furniture or markings like insufficient or unclear road signs and
carriageway markings and poor street lighting.
- Unexpected obstructions like roadworks and parked vehicles.
 Vehicle factors
- Lack of regular maintenance by the user of the vehicle like defective brakes and
tyre blowouts.

4. Generally, more than 50% of the total road accidents in Malaysia involves motorcycles and
about 60% of road fatalities are motorcyclists (and pillion riders), therefore making them
the most vulnerable road user group. In an effort to reduce the number of accidents, many
steps have been taken, and programs have been planned. These steps and programs can be
grouped into three broad categories which are called ‘The 3E Solution – Education,
Enforcement and Engineering’. Discuss in details all these steps and programs.

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 Education
- Early childhood road training to initial driver training, where a person is taught to
operate vehicles safely.
- Attitude changing programs, intended to discourage drink driving, speeding and
encourage seat belt and helmet wearing.
- Road safety education in schools.
- Exercises in pedestrian and cyclist safety.
- Driver training courses.
- Safety programmes for the elderly.
- Campaigns.
 Enforcement
- Introducing laws/legislations aimed at discouraging drink driving, non-compliance
of seat belt and helmet usage, speeding.
- Enforcing speed traps at major roads and expressways.
- Speed limits on all roads.
- Lowering speed limits at bends, roads adjacent to schools and hospitals, residential
streets.
- Installation of automated cameras to detect motorists exceeding the speed limit and
red light runners.
- Imposing traffic summons on motorists caught breaking the rules of the road.
 Engineering
- Automatic transmissions which make driving less complicated.
- Systems which ensure better driver visibility like exterior mirrors adjustable from
the inside of the vehicle, anti-glare windows, fewer blind spots in the vehicles.
- Anti-lock braking systems which reduce the risk of skidding.
- Tyres which give improved wet weather traction.
- Better vehicle signalling systems like front and rear turn-indicators and braking
lights.
- Greater discern ability of heavy vehicles.
- Injury attenuation systems like seat belts, collapsible steering wheels, airbags, non-
lethal safety windscreens and neck restraints.
- Greater control over accesses to roadways.
- Improved geometric design.
- Improved lighting and carriageway delineation.

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 - Improved road signing.
- Implementation of physical methods of traffic control to prevent speeding in
residential areas.
- Improved processes for identifying and correcting accident black spots.

5. The national safety plan was devised by setting a target of 30% reduction in fatality based
on a multivariate statistical model established in 1996. Strategic plans were studied upon
based on the planning matrix (Haddon Matrix). List all related actions can be taken for pre-
crash, during crash and post-crash for human, vehicle and environment conditions.
 Human
- Pre-crash
Education, campaign and enforcement.
- Crash
Compliance to safety devices.
- Post-crash
Skills of paramedic and first respondents.
 vehicle
- Pre-crash
Type approval, road worthiness and active safety devices.
- Crash
Installation of passive safety devices.
- Post-crash
Rescue tools.
 Environment
- Pre-crash
Black spot programme and road safety audit.
- Crash
Engineering safer designs (forgiving road furniture).
- Post-crash
Trauma centres and management.

6. Motorcycling is a popular form of transport in Malaysia because it is cheap and convenient

for traveling. However, motorcyclists are also one of the most vulnerable road users, and
the number of motorcyclists and pillion riders killed makes up 60% of the total fatalities on

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Malaysian roads, which is very alarming. The contributing factors to motorcycle accidents
are lack of conspicuity, bad habits and behaviour, less forgiving road conditions and lack
of stability. Discuss countermeasures can be taken to reduce road accidents involving
motorcyclists based on the following scopes:
 Conspicuity
- Motorcyclists are more inclined not to be detected by other road traffic due to their
relative size and also their relative position to the flow of traffic.
- Therefore steps that were implemented either by engineering, education and
legislative measures involved:
o running headlights at all times
o usage of reflective strips
o usage of fluorescent clothing such as safety vests.
o High visibility/light coloured motorcycles and helmets.
 Behavioural Modification
- Campaigns and enforcement made by authorities such as the Road Safety Coucil
(MKJR), police (PDRM) and the Roads and Traffic department (JPJ) involves:
o Speed traps at high risk areas.
o Breathalyzer testing.
o Visible presence of police at known illegal racing areas.
o Demerit system.
o Road blocks.
 Road and Traffic Factors
- The steps taken to curtail the road and traffic factors involved exclusive lane policy
on new roads, safety audits on blackspots and motorcycle facilities such as at
signalised junctions and slip roads and also by provision of motorcycle shelters
along the highways.
- Via the safety audit, problems could be identified and improvements such as
improvement of skid resistance of road surfaces, provision of a more forgiving off-
street road furniture and run-off clearances, signage, and speed differentials (reduce
speed differentials by lowering speed limits on highways) were undertaken.
- Improvement in terms of road markings and delineators was also undertaken to
guide road users, which would not only be beneficial for motorcyclist but also for
the other drivers.
 Exposure Control

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 - Studies have shown that a higher exposure of a user would determine whether he
or she would be more prone to accidents.
- Statistics compiled indicated that in general, young riders between the ages 16-25
would be more likely to be involved in an accident as opposed to the higher age
groups.
- Business decisions by the insurance companies by necessitating higher premiums
for this age group reflect the current findings.
- Campaigns were more targeted towards this age group both at the educational
institutions and the mass media at the national level.
- The implementation of provisional licenses and the higher demerit system for the
‘P’ drivers was considered as a catalyst for new road users (which forms a large
number of the target groups) to develop a good habit in the form of adherence to
the road safety procedures.
- Exclusive motorcycle lanes would also help to further minimise the accident
exposure especially in our major roads.
 Injury Control
- In terms of injury control, new helmet standards were implemented while
campaigns for proper wearing of helmets and protective clothing were also
introduced.
- Enforcement of protective clothing however proves to be difficult due to Malaysia’s
tropical environment.
- In general, the Malaysian riders would not be inclined to wear the heavy protective
jackets and trousers in the hot climate while the sight of riders wearing only sandals
during rain is common.
 Trauma Management
- Currently, all major hospitals are equipped with a trauma centre where accident
victims could have adequate medical facilities for injuries.
- This includes better facilities, equipment and trained staff, which is essential to treat
injuries and also to save lives.
- Effective trauma care is characterised by:
o Efficient emergency notification.
o Fast transport of qualified medical personnel.
o Correct diagnosis at the scene.
o Stabilisation of the patient.

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 o Prompt transport to point of treatment.
o Extensive rehabilitation services.
- New acute trauma management systems need to be developed and to be
implemented nationally. The systems should address the following features such as:
o Patient delivery to the nearest appropriate hospital.
o Rescue capability.
o Integration of emergency transport systems.
o Agreed protocols.
o Guidelines and standards.
o Workforce development and training.
o Telecommunications and emergency response.