“KPI of road deaths” joke – Transport Minister must recognise that Malaysia has the world’s highest road deaths per capita

Media statement by DAP National Political Education Director and MP for Kluang Liew Chin Tong on 14th November 2014

I call on Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to recognise the fact that Malaysia has the world’s highest road deaths per capita and not to continue with massaging data to argue that Malaysia has a low rate of road deaths per vehicle.

In a widely circulated Astro Awani video interview, the Road Transport Department Director-General Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad notoriously announced his “Key Performance Index (KPI) of road deaths”:

“Kita jangka penduduk rakyat negara kita akan mati sebanyak 10,716 orang mati menjelang tahun 2020. Jadi usaha-usaha kita ini adalah sebahagian daripada usaha untuk mengurangkan rakyat Malaysia mati di atas jalanraya kerana kita mempunyai KPI. Kita nak orang ramai mati 5,358 orang sahaja menjelang tahun 2020.

Ini dari segi teori lah, on paper. Tapi basically maknanya kita nak sepatutnya tanpa apa-apa langkah penguatkuasa orang ramai dijangka mati 10716, kita nak turun kepada…ah..Jadi dengan ini lah sebahagian daripada langkah langkah kita.”

http://www.astroawani.com/videos/show/buletin-awani/operasi-cermin-gelap-43723

Ismail Ahmad is soon becoming a laughing stock among ordinary Malaysians for this particular statement and also Road Transport Department’s misplaced priorities to enforce irregularities in car number plates instead of something more important.

Ismail’s number came from a piece of research by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) . MIROS, another agency under the Transport Ministry, claims that “based on the ARIMA model, it is predicted that the number of fatalities will continue to increase up to 8,760 (year 2015) and 10,716 (year 2020).” (www.miros.gov.my)

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi has separately claimed that Malaysia’s road deaths has been in decline from 4.88% per 10,000 registered vehicle in 2002 to 3.05% per 10,000 registered vehicle in 2012.

What the Transport Ministry and its agencies are not saying is that Malaysia’s total vehicle number has almost doubled between 2002 and 2013. There were 12.06 million registered vehicles in 2002 and, as of 31st December 2013, there were 23.71 million registered vehicles (11.03 million registered motorcycles and 10.48 million private cars).

And what the Transport Ministry is not saying is that Malaysia has actually the highest road deaths per capita in the world since 1996.

Malaysia has the dubious record of having the highest road fatality risk in the world since 1996 if measured by deaths per 100,000 population.

Between 2000 and 2009, 4.5 million road accidents were reported and these resulted in 58,582 deaths.

According to World Health Organisation’s Road Safety Report 2013, Malaysia has the highest deaths on the road per 100,000 populations in the world. (India – 18.9; Russia – 18.6; China – 20.5; Malaysia – 25).

Since 2008, there were more than 6,500 road deaths per year and on the rise (2008 – 6,527; 2009 – 6,745; 2010 – 6,872; 2011 – 6,877; 2012 – 6917; 2013 – 6915)

It’s time for Liow Tiong Lai to rein in on Road Transport Department and ensure that the entire Transport Ministry recognise the horrendous fact that Malaysia’s has the highest road deaths per capita in the world and deal with it seriously.

Liew Chin Tong