KUALA LUMPUR: Four locations – Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Jalan Pahang, Jalan Taman Ibukota and Jalan 6/27A – have been identified by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) as sites to study the speed management infrastructure to reduce the limit from 50kph to 30kph, said Miros senior researcher Dr Rizati Hamidun.
“DBKL welcomes our study, and the speed management infrastructure proposed by us has been installed at all the identified locations. Its effectiveness will be evaluated by Miros and a report is expected to be presented early next year for a final decision.”
On March 20, then deputy federal territories minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias said the proposal to lower the speed limit of vehicles from 50kph to 30kph in several areas in the city centre would be presented to DBKL the following month.
“Data collection and analyses will be carried out and if it is agreed, then it will be implemented in September. The areas involved in the Miros study will be those with current speed limits of 60kph and 40kph,” said Jalaluddin.
The proposal to lower the speed limit was brought forward following the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in 2020, at which Malaysia was a participant.
At the conference, ministers from 80 countries pledged to reduce road fatalities by 2030 through measures that include enforcing the 30kph limit in urban areas.
The World Health Organisation said road crashes were the sixth-highest cause of death in Malaysia in 2020 and accounted for 7,181 fatalities.
On March 25, theSun spoke to Miros chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon on the rationale behind enforcing the 30kph speed limit in specific areas, and he said the possibility of a person being seriously injured when hit by a vehicle at that speed is only about 5%.
“It is very rare for drivers to intentionally hit or kill someone on the road. Most of us would never do that. However, since we are only human, mistakes happen. But when such incidents occur, should innocent parties be killed in the process? Certainly not, especially when it is preventable,” he said.
On July 30, former transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said at the United Nations High-Level Meeting in New York that Malaysia hopes to achieve a 50% reduction in road fatalities by 2030.
