"13 die on day three of Ops Sikap
PETALING JAYA: Day Three of Ops Sikap XX saw 13 deaths due to road accidents recorded nationwide, with six deaths occurring on federal roads.
Four deaths were the result of accidents on state roads while three happened on municipal roads.
The number of road accidents also rose to1,245 yesterday from 1,182 on Monday, police said in a statement.
The most number of accidents occurred on municipal roads at 566, followed by federal roads with 287.
Eight deaths involved motorcyclists, while five other deaths were accidents involving cars and a lorry. One death involved a cyclist.
A total of 14,443 traffic summons were issued......"
Read more
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/9/16/nation/20090916141915&sec=nation">here.
Upon coming back from the UK last 2 months I was dumbstruck at the airport with the presence of 3 staff from the Ministry of Health checking on the arrival of passengers from the countries afflicted with H1N1 (which means worldwide) at the airport. On TV you heard campaign on the awareness of the pandemic being aired so often and scary facts were splashed on the headlines everyday, so does the incidences and the death toll.
The flu-like infection received so much media attention, giving the impression that this was the No.1 virus killer by causing fatal infections. That was certainly different than how it was in the UK, where there was no panic at all. We were informed about the deaths and what precaution to take, warned of the symptoms, but you surely would not see anybody putting on surgical masks on the street!
H1N1 is no more fatal than SARS or dengue, for instance. In fact dengue fever killed more urban Malaysians than you care to think of. But dengue fever or chikungunya were yesterdays' news. While H1N1 is a sophisticated disease initially detected as being an association with the swine, so it just has to be highlighted to get some kind of (political) mileage. After all, fighting dengue fever is a long lost battle. You just could not raise people's awareness more than the level of what's hammered to you since before - the larvae, the adult Aedes aegypti, cleaning of your house, getting rid of empty cans properly, or the use of Abate.
What more can anyone do, what else could make newspapers headlines than those facts? News of dengue deaths were not publicised for various (political?) reasons i.e not to cause panic or keep visitors away from the country (may be?).
Now we know deaths from road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in this country. From Ops Sikap I to XX, we do not see a decremental pattern, instead the number increases exponentially every year. For sure the 73 fatalities from H1N1, first detected about 3 months ago till now is a sorry number compared to deaths occuring at the perimeter of this coming Hari Raya celebrations. By the time the celebration ends, you do not need to be a mathematical genius to count the casualties.
Various government agencies; Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Works, Road Traffic Department, Royal Malaysian Police, MIROS, etc have been enforcing many programmes to curtail road traffic accidents and implementing strategies to improve road safety, but where do we go wrong? have all the efforts gone astray?
From my personal observation, I noticed all the contributing physical factors:
1) poor road maintenance i.e potholes, uneven roads, narrow roads
2) poor risk signages i.e dangerous curves, road constructions,
3) improper locations of traffic lights, turns, junctions,
4) poor lighting
5) inadequate motorcycle lane/pedestrian crossing, etc.
But we must not forget that the main reason for accidents are due to drivers' attitude. I would not dwell on the subject further here, because to figure out Malaysian drivers' attitude and psyche, that in itself is a long dissertation.
Motorcycle-related deaths numbered the top position among other vehicles. Have we found a solution to this? Does setting a lower cost to getting a license help? How about the minimum age limit? I must admit while I was in UK, I could very rarely see a motorcyclist, most people use public transport which are readily available, dependable, reliable and cheap. Acquiring tickets are easy, being just at the tips of your fingers (online). Because the system was so competent, there was no hassle, no touts servicing and leeching, no people conning you at every corners!
In addition, the roads were properly maintained, all construction works were well gated and signages put up where they were clearly seen and all information regarding road closure and changes of route, were informed beforehand and notices put up on the buses and online. The "NO CAR LANES" signages indicated that cars were not allowed to use the lanes, this was especially evident in the most busy areas of the town. And enforcement was always around to warn off traffic offenders, the police/RTD officers were always equipped with a digital camera to take snapshots of your offences and as evidence for the summons.
There is so much work need to be done to alleviate people's suffering from deaths due to accidents, or severe/fatal viral infections, or from diabetes and other diseases with high morbidity and mortality in this country. Please.... it's imperative that the "powers" be sincere about matters pertaining to life and death.
Bakiah: Feels disgusted about the abuse of media to promote an individual(s) rise to a "celebrity status"over health issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment