SEREMBAN: The government will soon gazette a reduction in the maximum speed limit for vehicles in school zones from 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) to 30km/h to enhance safety, particularly for school students.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the new speed limit is currently in the process of being gazetted, but the policy decision has already been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Congestion.
The move, he said, was taken to create safer school zones, as these areas have a history of road accidents, especially involving students who walk or cycle to school.
“The committee has made a policy decision to lower the speed limit in all school zone areas to 30km/h.
“The decision is backed by a scientific data study, which showed that reducing the speed limit to 30km/h significantly lowers the risk of fatal accidents. The study also found that every 10 km/h increase in speed raises the risk of student deaths,” he told reporters after officiating the 61st Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Road Safety Council (MKJR) at the Royale Chulan Hotel here.
Present was the ministry secretary-general Datuk Jana Santhiran Muniayan.
Commenting further, Loke, who is also the Seremban member of Parliament, said the implementation of the reduced speed limit would require cooperation from other ministries and local authorities, particularly in providing the necessary supporting infrastructure.
He said that in addition to gazetting the maximum speed limit, authorities must also ensure that proper road infrastructure is in place in school zones, such as warning signs and yellow road markings, to alert road users and encourage them to slow down.
“On average, there are about 70 fatal accidents in school zones each year,” Loke said.
Meanwhile, at MJKR’s meeting today, Loke said it focused on community-based road safety initiatives, including the My Safe Road programme, which targets interventions in high-risk areas to reduce fatalities and serious injuries from road accidents.
“In addition, MKJR will also focus on the Safe School Zone initiative and the Road Safety Leadership Fellowship Programme, which aims to develop young leaders who can drive community-based road safety initiatives using the Safe System Approach,” he said.
Loke added that this approach has proven effective in reducing road accident fatalities in developed countries.
However, it requires a paradigm shift, not merely blaming driver behaviour, but also emphasising systemic improvements such as road conditions, vehicle safety, speed limits and law enforcement.
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