Toll discount increases road accidents?

Taking advantage of the long weekend holidays due to the Eidil Fitri celebration, my family and I drove all the way to the Cherating beaches to enjoy the sea, sun and sand last weekend. Food was also on the agenda as we tasted some local delicacies like the keropok lekor and "Satar otak-otak" which were sold along the Cherating road to Kemaman. We even joined the big tourist crowd that swamped the famous stuffed crab in Kemaman. All the restaurants selling the stuffed crab were fully patronized.

The thought of enjoying a free use of the tolled road from Gombak in Kuala Lumpur to Jabor in Terengganu remained a wishful thought. Even though the highway concessionaire MTD Prime Sdn Berhad declared the "free gift" for the road users using the highway on 18 and 24 of September between 12 midnight to 5am, the drive toll free period are nothing more than a free publicity stunt. The operator of the North-South highway, PLUS Expressway Berhad announced a discount up to 20%  for road users during the festivities for time of travel from 12 midnight to 7am.

How many people will actually take the RISK to drive from 12 midnight to 5am? Most drivers would have prefered to hit the road when they are in the best frame of mind and alertness. The timing contradicts with the information given by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research ( MIROS) which warned that road collisions involving express buses increases during hours between 12 midnight to 6am! MIROS which was set up in January 2007 is a government body involved in research and dissemination of information on road safety. A road safety campaign advisory in the local The Star newspaper published before the start of the mass exodus from the city to the kampongs highlighted the similiar fact that the risk of road accidents increases up to 4 times from 12 midnight to 6am.

With Malaysia having one of the highest rate of road accidents in the world, is the relevant highway operators doing the public a favour to reduce roads accidents as claimed or enticing more people to be part of the increasing accident statistics for the sake of saving a couple of bucks?

The highway operators need to have a rethinking on their purported "social responsibility" if they are really sincere and serious about the welfare of the road users.The Road Safety Department should have advised the toll highway operators accordingly before more accidents happens due to the discounts.- Loka