I Traffic Accidents in aUniversity Environment

M alaysia has one of the highest traffic accident rates in the world, which has caused concern among all quarters involved in the road transport sector. Figure 1 shows a comparison between Malaysia and some of the more advanced countries in terms of fatalities per lo,00ovehicles. Traffic accidents in Malaysia cost the country 600 million ringgit (about $200”million U.S. dollars) in 1986, and this figure has risen to 1.2 billion ringgit (about $400 million U.S. dollars) in 1991. ” Accident statistics indicate that more than 90 percent of the road accidents in Malaysia are caused by driver error.’ Of all the road users, motorcyclists have the worst accident record, followed by pedestrians. Figure 2 shows the death toll for different road users in Malaysia for the period 1981– 1985. About 41 percent of the fatalities within that period were motorcyclists, followed by 20 percent for pedestrians and 13 percent for car drivers. This phenomenon is in direct contrast to the situation in more advanced countries, such as the United States, where about half of those killed on U.S. roads are occupants of passenger cars and motorcycle fatalities are fewer than those for occupants of light trucks and vans.’ The pedestrian fatality rate for Malaysia is also higher than that of the United States