NILAI, May 26 — The Road Transport Department (RTD) will be stationing enforcement teams at Rest and Recreation Stops (R&R) as well as laybys during Ops Bersepadu (integrated operation) in conjunction with Aidilfitri, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

He said they would be conducting random inspection on road users in the effort to reduce the rate of accidents.

“For example, at the Southern Integrated Terminal (TBS), the teams would inspect buses before they start their journey as well as the hotspots which we cannot reveal,” he told reporters after launching Ops Bersepadu and the national level Road Safety Campaign in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri here today.

Also present were the ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman, the Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador and the Road Safety Department of Malaysia (JKJR) director-general Datuk Rosli Isa.

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Also present were RTD director-general Datuk Seri Shaharuddin Khalid, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairman Datuk Suret Singh and AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd chairman Ng Eng Kiat.

The Ops Bersepadu themed ‘Drive Safely, Arrive Safely’ began today until June 12.

Loke said to reduce accidents in the country during festive seasons, road users especially those who are not driving and riding can record traffic offenders and report them to RTD.

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In this regard, he said summonses issued by the enforcement agencies are not aimed at punishing offenders but to provide awareness to motorists to obey regulations and ensure safety first.

Earlier, Loke in his speech said the similar campaign which was conducted during the Chinese New Year this year saw accident numbers decreased from 21,041 cases last year to 20, 829 this year.

“For the same period, there were 197 deaths due to road accidents compared to 208 fatalities in 2018, a fall of 11 death cases but I still consider the figure as high and hope all parties would help reduce the number.

“Based on previous statistics, most road accidents occurred on federal, municipal and rural roads. As such I hope police and RTD will focus their operation on these roads,” he said.

Loke said enforcement should focus on motorcyclists who contributed 63 per cent of the accident deaths.

Apart from that, he said almost 35 per cent of the motorcycle deaths were due to not wearing helmets and the requirement should be given serious attention.

At the ceremony, he also visited a road safety exhibition at the site and distributed bubur lambuk to visitors. — Bernama