Surge in road crashes during Raya period indicate current system still facing gaps in monitoring and implementation: Miros chief
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s road safety problem is not how fast motorists are allowed to drive, but how rarely speed limits are enforced, experts warn, as Aidilfitri traffic surges and accident risks climb.
Malaysia’s Hari Raya travel period over the past week has been marked by a relentless surge in road crashes, with more than 1,500 recorded daily as millions took to the roads for their balik kampung journeys and the return trip.
Fatalities have remained stubbornly high, fluctuating between 14 and 26 deaths a day in recent days – a grim reminder of how quickly risks escalate during festive periods and how persistently deadly the roads remain.
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon said the more pressing issue was not whether speed limits should be raised, but whether existing rules were enforced credibly enough to change driver behaviour.
He said the current system still faced gaps in both monitoring technology and enforcement consistency, pointing to speed cameras as one of the most effective tools that Malaysia still lacks in sufficient numbers.
“Speed cameras make enforcement more certain, but at this stage, we still do not have enough of them.
“What we want is to reach a stage where drivers do not want to speed, because that becomes their behaviour.
“Point-to-point monitoring over a stretch, rather than just at one spot, can help train that behaviour,” he told theSun.
Wong cited Australia as an example, where wider camera coverage and point-to-point enforcement over longer stretches – rather than single-location monitoring – have proven more effective in shaping driver behaviour.
He said China’s extensive use of warning systems for speed, red-light and seatbelt violations further reinforced compliance.
Wong also cautioned against the perception that modern or more powerful vehicles were inherently safer at higher speeds, noting that crash protection standards were tested at far lower thresholds than many motorists assume.
“People may say cars are more advanced now, more powerful and more modern, and therefore they can go faster.
“That does not mean the car can protect you at those speeds.
“Under international safety regulations, frontal crash protection is tested at 56km/h, while a five-star Asean New Car Assessment Programme vehicle is tested at 64km/h.
“For side impacts, the protection threshold is even lower, at 48km/h.”
He said this was why lower speed limits were enforced in pedestrian-heavy areas.
“Where pedestrians and cyclists are exposed, survivability drops sharply once speed rises.
“That is why zones such as school areas move towards limits of 30km/h, not higher,” he said.
He added that reducing speed remained the simplest and most effective safety measure available to drivers.
The Malaysia Road Safety Plan 2022–2030 states that Miros in-depth crash investigations found 41.7% of 367 cases were linked to speeding while studies show drivers in Malaysia typically travel up to 20km/h above posted limits.
Wong said with festive traffic still heavy, the priority must remain on stricter compliance and stronger enforcement – not higher speed limits.
“For enforcement to be effective, it must be sure, swift and severe.
“People must know they will be caught, the action must reach them quickly enough for them to realise they have done something wrong, and the penalty must be severe enough to discourage repeat behaviour.”
On March 6, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a written Dewan Negara reply to Senator Baharuddin Ahmad that Putrajaya had no immediate plans to raise the maximum highway speed limit for light vehicles to 130km/h.
He said any revision must be carefully evaluated based on accident data, highway design, road-user compliance and overall safety, adding that police statistics showed speeding-related accidents rose from 204 cases in 2024 to 239 in 2025.
The Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department reported 1,649 road crashes and 15 deaths nationwide on March 24, compared with 1,654 crashes and 14 deaths the previous day, according to a Facebook update yesterday.