Road accidents mount regardless

PETALING JAYA: Despite all the proactive measures put in place by the traffic police, there were some 10,349 road accidents reported nationwide during the balik kampung exodus this year.
Federal Traffic chief SAC Mohd Fuad Abdul Latiff said the figures were based on the data collected by the police under the "Ops Selamat" since its launch on July 21 and Monday.
"Of the total, 127 accidents were fatal accidents, which led to the death of 139 people," he said this in a statement.
Since July 21, Mohd Fuad said, they had issued 117,957 summonses with 1,598 for driving in the emergency lanes.
"We have yet to compare with the statistics of last year as we are still in the midst of collecting data from all over the country," he added.
He also said that 19,421 houseowners have informed their nearest police stations of them leaving their homes unattended.
"Our police patrol team are on their rounds at housing estates to ensure there are no break-ins," he added.
With the public holidays over, many of those who returned to their kampungs are back on the road to return home.
According to highway authorities, the traffic congestion along several highways were slowly building up, especially from Johor, Penang and East Coast to Kuala Lumpur.
Rain in certain parts of the country had also slowed down the traffic.