Speed Limit Near Schools To Be Reduced To 30km H Soon

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 Transport minister Loke Siew Fook says there are an average of 70 fatal accidents in school zones each year.
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said authorities must also improve road infrastructure in school zones such as installing warning signs and painting yellow lines to encourage road users to slow down. (Facebook pic)SEREMBAN: The government will gazette a reduction in the speed limit in school zones from 50 to 30 kilometres per hour (km/h) to better protect students
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the new limit is being gazetted following a decision by the Cabinet committee on road congestion and safety.
Loke said the committee’s decision was backed by data which found that reducing the speed limit to 30 km/h significantly lowered the risk of fatalities in accidents.
“Every additional 10 km/h increases the risk of death,” he said after chairing the Malaysian Road Safety Council’s annual general meeting.
He said that in addition to gazetting the lower speed limit, authorities must also improve road infrastructure in school zones such as installing warning signs and painting yellow lines to encourage road users to slow down.
Loke said on average, there are 70 fatal accidents in school zones each year.
He added that today’s Cabinet committee on road congestion and safety meeting was focused on community-based road safety initiatives such as the My Safe Road programme, which involved interventions in high-risk areas to minimise fatalities and serious injuries in road accidents.
He said this approach had proven effective in reducing road accident fatalities in developed countries.
However, he said it required a paradigm shift of moving beyond blaming drivers’ attitudes to also boosting law compliance, improving road conditions, and reducing vehicle speed limits. - FMT

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