Izah Azahari
There has been an yearly increase in deaths despite figures showing a decrease in road accidents from 1,079 in 2020 to 1,043 in 2021 and a seven-case increase in 2022.
The Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications’ (MTIC) figures, released recently, showed an increase in fatalities by 82 per cent since 2020.
To counter this, the ministry is urging the public and private sectors to work together to make the roads safer and advising motorists to stay alert, cautious and considerate in addition to obeying traffic laws and regulations.
The ministry’s statement also showed statistics of driver’s licences issued to senior citizens aged 70 to 85. With a new policy in force since December 16, 2022, the elderly can renew their licences for one, three or five years after filling out a health declaration form provided by the Land Transport Department.
Meanwhile, applicants aged 86 and above must include a health certificate issued by a recognised medical practitioner to renew their Class 3 driving licence on a yearly basis.
In 2021, the number of one-year licence renewals among senior citizens were 6,676 compared to 1,955 (-71 per cent) in 2022. The three-year renewals stood at 2,868 and five-year licences at 2,390.
The MTIC figures also covered Postal Services Department’s Mail Processing Centre (MPC) goods handling services for registered items, small packets and parcels.
The first quarter of 2022 showed the highest number of packages at 84,869 while the second and third quarters saw increases in small packets at 13,168 and 21,039. The fourth quarter saw a dip of 90 per cent.
Last year, the total number of packages handled decreased every quarter, most notably since the re-opening of the land borders on August 1, 2022 where there was a sharp decrease of 46 per cent until the end of the year.
