Massive Lack of Concern About the Huge Death Toll on the World's Roads

Undoubtedly, one of the greatest challenges to face road safety professionals around the world is the fact that people generally have a blatant disregard towards crash victims and some version of the widespread, negligent attitude that "it won't happen to me!"

Quite clearly, however, that fact that globally around 1.2 million people are killed and tens of millions are seriously injured each year shows this lack of concern to be both farcical and deadly.

What follows -- in the box, below -- is an article from today's edition of the Malaya Sunday Mail. It is very well written but sadly it highlights a deadly scenario that is commonplace in the vast majority of countries, not just Malaysia.

It has been reproduced here, in full, in the hope firstly that website visitors will read it in full and compare the Malaya situation with conditions and attitudes in their own respective countries. Secondly, however, we hope that everyone will also read a vital bit of advice from DSA that appears just below the boxed article.

News of road accidents is becoming as interesting as weather reports to Malaysians, so folk are much more interested in launches of new cars and, of late, the issue of Approved Permits (AP).

But as all kinds of car models and makes appear on our roads, all kinds of accidents are alarmingly happening too.

Society gets no respite as accidents make their rounds regularly on the roads. Our hearts bleed, our souls cry. Road deaths occur so often that they have become run-of-the-mill news. So much so, people don’t bat an eye when, for example, a newspaper article says four people die in a crash.

Sigh… such a fatalistic attitude. People just don’t care as the hand of death writes more numbers to the statistics. The situation is fuelled by the fast-paced life that we lead – people are always in a hurry to go somewhere and thus they throw caution to the wind and civic-mindedness out of the car window.

In retrospect, a carload of dead people 30 years ago would have a lot of people lamenting in horror about the tragedy. Today, it is no longer major news in the dailies, when daily road deaths have become a fact of life.

But, from time to time, the impact of some heart-rending accidents on our minds is so profound that it makes us wonder how treacherous and murderous Malaysian roads have been turned into by speeding vehicles.

The tragedy of last Sunday at Sungai Buloh that killed a good Samaritan led to a lot of people talking about it after many newspapers front-paged the accident.

The nation learnt about the altruistic act of college student Mohd Noor Afifi Mohamad Rosli, who had stopped his bike and rushed to help the drivers of two cars that had collided head-on.

But as Afifi and his friends tried to free an injured man, an oncoming car ploughed into them, killing Afifi instantly and injuring his friends. Moments later, another car rammed into the back of the third car.

Now, some people are saying they are reluctant to stop their cars and help accident victims. Sad to say, that goes against our conscience and the nation’s drive towards a caring society.

I, myself, was an accident victim 11 years ago in a car crash that killed two persons. I am grateful to passers-by for saving my life.

We must help one another but at the same time, we must be very careful and alert. You never know when you would need help yourself one day. And every Malaysian should know first aid.

Yes, we must be very careful. The road is full of drivers who are blind as bats, and you come across news reports that make you wonder what kind of quality and mentality Malaysian drivers have.

You read about drivers ramming their cars into police stations, police roadblocks, toll booths, houses, petrol stations and so on.

People have been killed by other vehicles for stopping on the emergency lanes to repair punctured tyres.

People have died when a speeding car from the other side of the highway flew across the barrier to crash into their car.

Today, with more highways around us, people have developed a tendency to speed and this habit is carried over to city driving, residential areas and other roads.

Many drivers no longer just cruise in their cars though it is more economical to do so, especially when petrol is costing more and more. They just step on the accelerator unrelentingly, some carelessly and recklessly because they think accidents happen around them but not to them.

The roads of Kuala Lumpur can turn into K-Hell after 3am when some people, after leaving nightspots and high on ecstasy or other similar stimulants, turned into speed demons. And today, the cars are faster than 30 years ago, coupled with drivers who are more impatient and more reckless.

We hope Afifi did not lose his life for nothing. We should live with his spirit, which is to make Malaysia a caring society. Afifi was just a youth on a bike, but he showed he got a more noble soul than many people who drive posh, powerful luxury cars.

And we can help lessen the chance of suffering and pain by going just a little bit slower and by being just a mite more considerate.

Let’s all be considerate on the road in memory of Mohd Noor Afifi Mohamad Rosli.

Chan Wai Kong

[This article was published in the Malaya Sunday Mail on July 24, 2005.]

Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., asks all journalists, and all road safety professionals to spread one vital message:

At the scene of any road accident, one task must come before all others if repeated tragedies that have happened to kind people like Mohd Noor Afifi Mohamad Rosli are to be avoided in the future. That vital task is PROTECT THE SCENE.

Only after you have put out signs and/or people to warn the drivers of approaching traffic to slow down because something ahead is dangerously wrong should you approach vehicles and try to help the injured. Following one's natural instinct to rush to the aid of crash victims without first protecting the scene will often lead to further tragedy.