By Dr Krishnan Rajam

Our salutations and thanksgivings are due to the police for their selfless service as frontliners, emergency responders and enforcers of the MCO during this Covid era.

They have truly extended their roles and responsibilities to keep Malaysia safe.

They should further act to preserve their valuable resources to continue to contribute to the development of the nation.

We are all aware that the number of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths have decreased due to the MCO or "exposure control" in safety terminology.

In previous years we have been unable to maintain a sustained reduction in the annual number of road traffic deaths. Now that we have achieved some success, how can we further improve the road safety situation?

The police have had an important role in road safety (enforcement, investigation of road crashes and data collection) all along. However, due to widespread non-compliance with safety regulations among the public, it was blatantly difficult for them and other enforcement agencies (like Road Transport, local authorities) to rapidly enforce all rules at the same time throughout the country.

There would have been a widespread counter-criticism and repercussions if this was carried out.

This Covid era provides the opportunity of redefining the role of the police.

The police have set up road blocks throughout the country to primarily enforce the MCO. They could use this opportunity to "secondarily" enforce road safety measures.

No additional manpower is required but a little extra time is required for the police to enforce speeds, helmet use, seat belts, visibility, use of mobile phones, and drink driving.

It is equivalent to "hitting two birds with one stone". Perhaps, they should also announce and publicize their intentions to carry out such secondary enforcement.

These measures would greatly increase the "perception of being caught" among the public, a strong determinant of behavior / compliance with road safety regulations mentioned above.

The second role of the police is in the investigation of road crashes. They could reduce their work load by investigating only major crashes (which have caused fatal / serious injuries) and simplifying their processes / forms, etc.

The insurance sector could complement their role by investigating minor crashes. Under the insurance policy schedule, the company is not obliged to pay out claims in the event of non-compliance with any traffic safety regulation (like helmets, seat belts, etc).

It is cruel and inhuman to deprive an individual or family of compensation in the event of injury or death due to non-compliance with legislation. However, in the larger interest of safety of society, it is pertinent to constantly remind road users of this insurance clause.

All employers (including government, private, etc.) should ensure that their employees are compliant with traffic safety regulations for reasons of the vested interest in the welfare of their employees; obligation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and compliance with their group accident insurance policies.

The third method for the police to save their valuable resources is to publish the raw data on crashes on their webpage similar to the Fatality Analysis System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency, USA.

This will significantly save the efforts of traffic police in headquarters which analyze and publish their annual reports.

We look forward to a safer and more productive nation because road crashes affect mainly our young.

(Dr Krishnan Rajam is Senior Professor, AIMST University Kedah and former Technical Officer (Injury Prevention) Western Pacific Regional Office, World Health Organization.)