SEREMBAN: The government will very soon gazette a reduction in the maximum speed limit in school zones from 50 to 30 kilometres per hour (km/h) to improve safety for students.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the process of the new limit being gazetted is underway following the policy decision made through the Cabinet Committee on Road Safety and Congestion.
“The Cabinet Committee on Road Safety and Congestion has made a policy decision to lower the speed limit in all school zone areas from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. This is backed by scientific data that has been studied — reducing the speed to 30 km/h significantly lowers the risk of fatalities in accidents.
“Every additional 10 km/h increases the risk of death,“ he said after chairing the 61st Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Road Safety Council (MKJR) today.
He emphasised that in addition to gazetting the lower speed limit, authorities must also improve road infrastructure in school zones, such as installing warning signs and yellow lines, to alert road users and encourage them to slow down.
Loke added that on average, there are 70 fatal accidents in school zones each year.
Meanwhile, Loke stated that today’s MKJR meeting focused on community-based road safety initiatives, including the My Safe Road programme, which involves interventions in high-risk areas to minimise fatalities and serious injuries in road accidents.
“MKJR will also focus on the Safe School Zone and the Road Safety Leadership Fellowship Programme, aimed at nurturing young leaders who can spearhead road safety initiatives based on the Safe System Approach,“ he said.
Loke emphasised that this approach has proven effective in reducing road accident fatalities in developed countries but it requires a paradigm shift of moving beyond merely blaming drivers’ attitudes to also improving the system as a whole, including road conditions, vehicle speed limits and compliance with laws.
