Road accidents: MoT prefers term "crash" be used

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 -- The Ministry of Transport (MoT) prefers that the term "crash" be used for accidents to further raise awareness on road safety.

Its deputy minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said the matter was raised at the annual general meeting of the Road Safety Council of Malaysia at the end of last year to convey the real impact of road accidents.

“Crashes can happen because of unintended factors like road conditions, vehicles failing to perform well although serviced; whereas accidents are due to human error or negligence of road users themselves in that they place their own interests above that of others.

“So the use of the term "crash” can change the mindset of the public to be always alert and more careful on the roads. It can help motorcyclists and drivers understand better the big responsibility on their shoulders when they are on the roads,” he said.

He told reporters this after launching a road safety campaign organised by Kawasaki Motors (M) Sdn Bhd in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, here today.

He added that the term "crash” was commonly used in English language reporting now and felt it was more "mind-piercing", thus produce a better impact on road safety awareness.

Kamarudin, however, did not disclose when the change to the use of the term "crash” will be implemented.

So far. the media has also yet to be notified to use the term "crash" for a road accident.

Meanwhile, on road accident statistics for 2018, Kamarudin said the highest number of fatalities involved motorcyclists at 4,128 cases followed by car drivers (1,167) and pedestrians (407). 

"Eighty per cent  were due to carelessness of road users while 20 per cent happened because of other factors like road conditions and the vehicle itself,” he added.

-- BERNAMA