EVERY morning, as the sun rises over Malaysia’s roads, thousands of workers begin their daily journey.
Some are on motorcycles, weaving through traffic and braving unpredictable weather. Others are in cars, inching forward in congested lanes, their minds already occupied with the demands of the day ahead.
They leave home with a simple expectation, which is to return safely.
But for 18 Malaysians every single day, that return never happens. In 2023 alone, 6,643 lives were lost to road accidents.
That is thousands of families who will never hear the front door open again, never receive an “I am home” message, never share another meal or conversation.
Beyond the human tragedy, the financial toll is staggering.
Statistics from the Transport Ministry showed that over RM25 billion were lost in 2023 due to road accidents, which is equivalent to 1.4 percent of our GDP. Two decades ago, that figure stood at RM18 billion and instead of improving, the situation has worsened by 39 percent.
To put it into perspective, every life lost costs the nation at least RM3.12 million, according to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS). But how do you put a price on a father’s absence, a mother’s silence, a child’s unrealised dreams?
Yet, despite these staggering losses, we continue hurtling down the same dangerous paths. Many assume workplace fatalities occur in high-risk industries. The truth is far more unsettling.
Today, the most dangerous place for a worker is not the factory floor or
the construction site, but it is the road.
In 2024, 70 percent of workers’ deaths recorded by the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) occurred while commuting. These were not workers in hazardous environments, operating heavy machinery, or working in extreme conditions.
They were simply on their way to earn a living, only to never make it back home. A total of 86,529 workplace accidents were reported last year.
Of these, 44,264 happened at workplaces, while 42,265 occurred while commuting. And now, a new and terrifying trend has emerged, one that should shake us to our core.
It is no longer just about reckless speeding or running red lights. People are now live streaming while driving, filming themselves for TikTok and Instagram while cruising at 90 to 110 kilometres per hour.
A moment of distraction is all it takes. Research shows that just two seconds of lost focus doubles the risk of a crash. What happens when that distraction lasts 30 minutes or more? Every day, we see videos of drivers swerving between lanes, motorcycles squeezing into impossible gaps, and people glued to their phones.
Each time we excuse it by saying “It is just one message” or “Just a quick glance”, we are part of the problem.
At some point, we must ask ourselves if we are really willing to trade lives for likes. For years, road safety has been treated as an afterthought.
What if we could stop these tragedies before they occur? This is why Perkeso launched Ops Cegah in 2022 to shift the focus from compensation to prevention.
In the past year, we have worked with 1,030 employers, guiding them towards better safety measures. The results have been significant, with 937 employers recording a 91 percent drop in accidents from 2023 to 2024.
This year, we are expanding our reach to 7,000 high risk employers because prevention is always better than regret.
But even with the best safety measures, not every tragedy is within our control. Sometimes, you are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
You stop at a red light, only for a lorry to plough into you. You ride carefully, only for a distracted driver to veer into your lane. You obey every rule, but someone else’s recklessness changes your life forever.
For those who did not survive, the financial aftermath to the families can be just as devastating, especially one who loses a breadwinner.
This is why the implementation of Skim Kemalangan Bukan Bencana Kerja (SKBBK) should be expedited to ensure that those affected by non-work-related accidents, including commuting mishaps are not left without support.
It provides financial protection, medical coverage, and disability benefits, offering a crucial safety net when the unthinkable happens. In less than a week, millions will take to the roads, eager to reunite with their families for Aidilfitri.
So here is the question every Malaysian must ask themselves. What is the price of a life?
A text can wait. A call can wait. A live stream is not worth a funeral. The road home should never be a one-way journey.
Let us make sure everyone gets there safely.
If you are an employer, implement stronger preventive measures in your workplace. If you are a road user, be mindful. Put the phone away, slow down, and stay focused.
With preventive measures in place, the final piece of the social security grand puzzle now lies in the SKBBK that will cushion and provide comprehensive protection.
While we cannot always control what happens on the road, we can control how we prepare, how we protect, and how we respond.
Safety is not just about statistics, for in it there are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. It is about ensuring that every Malaysian makes it home, not just for Raya, but for every day after.
Let us not simply wish ‘Selamat’ Hari Raya if we let tragedy loom or even worse, we were the culprit.
Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed is the group chief executive officer of Perkeso.
Comments: letter@thesundaily.com
