Child Fatalities in Residential Areas a Grim Reminder that Road Safety is not to be Taken for Granted
Official Press Release from Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)
Residential areas are becoming increasingly dangerous going by statistics which revealed that 75 children up to the age of 15 years old were killed and another 192 seriously injured in road accidents in 2008.
Statistics released by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) also revealed that another 424 children sustained slight injuries from road accidents that occurred within residential areas.
Accidents that occurred in residential areas accounted for the second highest number of fatalities and injuries. Another 311 fatalities and 728 serious injuries were recorded throughout numerous locations. Meanwhile, road accidents that occurred at schools claimed the lives of 22 children and seriously injuring another 78. Another 15 children lost their lives in road accidents that occurred at shopping centres.
“The number of fatalities, serious injuries and accidents that occur within residential areas are indeed a very serious cause for alarm, especially when residential areas are often thought to be safe and generally shielded from the risks of heavy traffic,” said MIROS Director General Professor Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah.
“These unfortunate incidents point to what may be a low level of observance in road safety awareness on the false assumption that equates residential areas with safer motoring.”
According to MIROS, there were also 73 and 82 fatalities, with another 240 and 228 children seriously injured from road accidents that had occurred within residential areas in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Professor Farhan said the highest number of road accidents involving children between the ages of 1 and 15 were recorded between the times of 5 pm and 7 pm. In 2008, a total of 1,633 accidents were reported during these two critical hours. These are also the two hours when children are more often found playing outside the house, indulging in activities within the residential area or commuting home from school.
Professor Farhan said the false sense of safety enjoyed within residential areas was also reflected in the number of accidents involving underage and unlicensed motorcyclists and drivers.
Of the 493 children below the age of 15 who were killed in road accidents in 2008, 172 fatalities were the result of the child either riding a motorcycle or in some cases, driving a motor vehicle. Another 226 fatalities involved passengers while in total, 1,213 children were seriously injured.
From the total fatal accidents in 2008, those between the ages of 11 and 15 were the most at risk, with 213 fatalities reported nationwide. Another 102 killed were those between one and five years old. Some 2,797 children suffered slight to serious injuries.
