The recent “basikal lajak” case engendered much public discussion over individual and societal responsibilities in the prevention of road traffic injuries.

I reviewed the relevant Malaysian traffic law in the context of scientific understanding of road traffic crashes as mentioned in the WHO Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention (2004) to which I was a contributor and peer reviewer.

Section 41 (1) of the Road transport Act 1987 states that “any person who, by the driving of a motor vehicle on a road recklessly or at a speed or in a manner which having regard to all the circumstances (including the nature, condition and size of the road, and the amount of traffic which is or might be expected to be on the road) is dangerous to the public, causes the death of any person shall be guilty of an offense and shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term of *not less than two years and not more than ten years and to a fine not less than five thousand ringgit and not more than twenty thousand ringgit.

The WHO Report states: “….Indirect influences, such as the design and layout of the road, the nature of the vehicle, and traffic laws and their enforcement – or lack of enforcement – affect behavior in important ways…”; “.. errors can also be effectively reduced by changing the immediate environment, rather than focusing solely on changing the human condition…”.

The Malaysian Act correlates the driving behavior directly with crash outcomes while scientific understanding emphasizes multidimensional etiologic factors contributing to the factors.

The interpretation of the law together, societal deterrent impact, crash outcomes and potential emphasis on some contributory factors over others affect legal judgement and sentence meted.

Legislators and policy makers need to amalgamate evidence from global science and experience to address road safety issues in their milieu.

(Dr. Krishnan Rajam is Clinical Professor at AIMST University, and was formerly Technical Officer (Injury Prevention) at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office.)