KUCHING: Police have expressed concern over the alarming increase in accident cases in Sarawak which recorded 19,964 cases so far this year.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata said that this year’s figure is recorded from January to November.
“This data shows an increase of 466 cases, which represents a 2.4 per cent rise, compared to last year’s figure of 19,498 cases in the same period.
“Meanwhile, for deaths, the figure showed a small decline of 10 cases, which represents a three per cent decrease, from 336 cases last year to 326 cases this year.
“The number of accidents and deaths in the state this year, still does not reflect a satisfactory improvement for the community. It does not reflect a significant change in the attitude of road users as expected.
“In fact, accident cases are showing an alarming increase that is quite worrying,” he said when officiating at the Road Safety Advocacy Campaign for Christmas at the Sarawak Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) yesterday (Dec 18).
Mancha added that the Road Safety Advocacy Campaign is organised to educate and convey information regarding road safety to the community.
He said that this is also an initiative of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to eliminate negative attitudes that are often the cause of road accidents.
“The main cause of accidents are the carelessness of road users. Selfish and irresponsible attitudes are negative attitudes that do not need to exist among road users.
“Road users must instil an attitude of caution, tolerance and compliance with enforced road rules and laws,” he said.
The road safety advocacy campaign will run for five days starting from Dec 23 to 27, with over 700 personnel being assigned to identified areas where traffic congestion is expected to occur.
