Fatal accidents down by 11.5% during CNY Ops Selamat (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 226 people were killed in 208 fatal accidents recorded during this year's Ops Selamat 12/2018 traffic operations in conjunction with Chinese New Year – a drop from last year's 235 fatal crashes and 257 deaths.
Motorcyclists and their pillion riders made up the majority of deaths on the road (150) during the operation, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim.
The operation was conducted from Feb 9 to 23.
"Next were motorists with 46 deaths.
"Speeding, fatigue and carelessness are among the factors that caused fatal accidents," he told reporters after attending the closing ceremony of this year's Chinese New Year Ops Selamat at Bukit Aman police headquarters here yesterday.
There were a total of 21,041 accidents recorded this year which marks a 1.4% increase from last year which recorded almost 289 fewer accidents (20,752), he said.
Police also issued a total of 385,547 summonses during the period to motorists for various offences compared to 255,392 summonses issued last year.
Of that number, a whopping 253,810 were for speeding, which is the highest number recorded for a single offence.
He reminded the six offences are driving over the speed limit, driving on emergency lanes, crossing double white lines to overtake, beating traffic lights, using mobile phones while driving and cutting queues.
"All these offences are related to the attitude or the civic-mindedness of road users and these are the main causes of road accidents in our country.
"A prudent driver is one who considers other drivers' safety and his own safety. I believe we can achieve better safety on the road," he said.
Noor Rashid also said that the police was paying extra attention to repeated traffic offenders by suggesting these individuals undergo classes organised by other traffic enforcement agencies.
"We want to prioritise reducing fatal accidents and also intensify campaigns to prevent accidents by educating the road-users.
"We have their records and we can identify those who violate traffic rules frequently," he said.
On patrols carried out in neighbourhoods to curb break-ins, Noor Rashid said there were a total of 592 cases recorded this year which marked a 20.9% drop from 748 last year.
A total of 579 suspects in connection to house break-ins were also detained by the police.
Earlier in the event, several state police contingents were recognised for the efforts in Ops Selamat.
Among them was the Selangor police contingent, recognised as the best state police headquarters for its contributions to Ops Selamat.