Road Safety As The Factor Of Urban Traffic Congestion In Malaysia
Urban traffic congestion occurs when the number of traffic using a given road facilities exceeding the acceptable levels of delay or inconvenience. When the number of traffic exceeds the capacity of the existing facilities, the Level of Service (LOS) of the facilities will deteriorate. According to Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim (2009), the operation of everyday traffic is influenced by the interaction between traffic, drivers and roadways. The flow of the traffic is varied depending on the time and locations. It is observed to be inconsistent throughout the day with peak periods in the morning and evening whereas some locations may experience vary high traffic volume due to the active economic activities. Traffic congestion is a global issue in most developed nations including our country, Malaysia.
Due to the rapid growth of population and number of registered vehicles in our country, congestion becomes the typical phenomenon which then contributes negative impacts to the land transportation system.
Apart from that, there are other factors which also contributes to this problem such as high automobile dependency, urban transit deficiency, road safety, poor urban traffic management and control, traffic overloads, poor infrastructure, vehicle diversity, car parking, changing land use patterns, transport deprived groups as well as the environmental problems.
As mentioned above, road safety is one of the major factors contributing to the urban traffic congestion. Road safety is significant for all road users. Norziha Che-Him, Rozaini Roslan, Mohd Saifullah Rusiman, Kamil Khalid, MGhazalo Kamardan, Farquis Azbi Arobi and Nazeera Mohamad (2017) stated that the number of people injured in road is keep increasing in recent years. Road safety becomes more important as the number of vehicles on road is also increasing. Road safety means safety for all road users. Road accidents are unfavourable events that lead to injury or death which results in significant social and economic costs. Road fatalities mostly involved people inside motor vehicles, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. Road users pose risks to each other. Work-related accidents on the road may involve any traffic type. Different traffic types face different risks on the road may involve any traffic type. Different traffic types face different risks on the road where when they are all in the same space, the risks are also increases. Accident risks on the road, during both work-related driving and leisure time driving, involve risks to the driver, passengers and other road users. The continuously changing traffic environment requires constant alertness on the part of road users. Speeding, drunk driving and failure to wear a seat belt often said to be the main reasons for road accidents.
In Malaysia, the road accidents is often linked to the rapid growth in population, economic, industrialization and motorization industries, poor road maintenance, lack of police enforcement and poor road conditions. In a developing place, the number of vehicles will increase during peak hour which then will increase the risk of road traffic accident twice. Also, the risk of accidents to occur changes with the occurrence of special events in the country such as festive seasons.
Research shows that, almost 90 percent of all road traffic accidents are due to human error whereas the rest is caused by vehicle defect, poor road design and inadequate maintenance. Driver impairment is the most significant component of road traffic accident not only in Malaysia but to the worldwide. Driving at excessive speed, without protective gear as well as under the influence of alcohol and drugs are the most common factors contributing to vehicle crash, serious injuries and even death. This scenario obviously shows human attitudes play a crucial role in preventing and predicting further accidents. Apart from that, most drivers in Malaysia also love to use the phone while driving, beating the red light, changing lanes without signalling, driving an unmaintained vehicle and driving without good judgement. Not to blame the drivers wholly, there are also accidents occurred are caused by the irresponsible pedestrians.
As the road safety has become the global issue and become more serious, mitigation measures should be taken into account. Many parties should take the responsibilities to reduce the occurrence of the traffic accident especially in our country. According to (), the road injury prevention policy is inclusive of government and legislative bodies, media, users or citizens, industry, police, professionals and NGOs (special interest groups).
Governmental responsibilities for traffic safety shall fall within the transport ministry with other related government departments such as police, justice, health, planning and education are having some responsibilities for key areas. Promoting efficient patterns of land use and providing shorter and safer routes for vulnerable road users can reduce the exposure for the road users to injury risks. It is observed that people in cars are between 8 and 20 times less likely to be killed in a road accident than walkers, bicyclists or motorized two-wheeler users. Hence, improving public transportation system also will reduce the injury exposure.
Besides, it is also possible for some developing countries to take lessons from safety conscious road designs in countries such as Netherlands and Denmark, where their roads are built depend on the functions such as high speed, rural, transitional between high speed and rural, and residential. The safety of pedestrians and cyclists is also their priorities.
The government also need to set the road and safety rules, securing compliance and improving the transport policy. Speed and blood alcohol concentration should be set and reinforced. It is obviously observed that in most developed countries, impaired driving is most common caused to road traffic fatalities and injuries. By setting and enforcing speed and blood alcohol concentration limits have been proved to be the most effective way to decrease the road accidents and injuries in many developing countries.
Next, the use of seat belt also should be reinforced. It is proven that in most countries, the mandatory seat-belt-use laws have reduced traffic injuries by 40 to 50 percent. In which countries where car occupants are less than 10 to 20 percent of traffic fatalities, the government should enhance the helmet safety and use two to three-wheel vehicle operators as well as enforcing the appropriate number of passengers of these vehicles.
Last but not least, as the technology keep improving day by day, it is suggested to design a motorized vehicle which is more crashworthy. The designation of more crashworthy vehicle is inclusive of improving the visibility of the vehicle. One survey has been conducted in Thailand and it shows that 75 to 80 percent of road traffic injuries were among motorized two-wheeled vehicles users, which are not really visible to larger vehicle operators. The traffic injuries can be reduced by improving the visibility of drivers in other instances. Daytime running lights and high mounted stop lamps have reduced crashes rate in such cases. There are also the improvement of the technologies which created other initiatives for road safety such as the intelligent speed adaptation, in which the vehicle determines the speed limit for the road, alcohol-ignition interlock systems which detect the alcohol on the breath of the drivers, preventing them from starting their engines or also electronic driver improvement monitors that connect individual driver profile assessments and an individual vehicle operators’s actual driving performance.
Also, some recommendations to prevent road traffic accidents are all road users need to act with civic responsibility, safe driving programmes to be conducted for drivers or drivers, introduce deterrent punishment for offenders committing fatal grievous and serious accidents, identify risk drivers and to cancel or suspend their licenses by judiciary or by demerits systems by the controller of motor traffic and it is encouraged to include traffic road safety in school curriculum.
In conclusion, as road safety is one of the major cause to urban traffic congestion in Malaysia, it is best if all parties mentioned above collaborate together in minimizing the traffic accident rate as well as the congestion rate.
