JOHOR BARU: The number of road accidents recorded during Hari Raya Aidilfitri in Johor has dropped this year compared to 2019, says Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat.
He said that the number of accidents during Ops Selamat 18, between April 29 and May 8, has dropped to 2,302 compared to 2,488 during Ops Selamat 15 in 2019.
"We saw a drop of about 7.5% or 186 cases this year compared to during Hari Raya in 2019. Compared with the year 2019 as in the past two years, several travel restrictions were imposed during the festive season due to Covid-19.
"The number of deaths due to road accidents have also dropped to 20 deaths, compared to 24 deaths during the same period two years ago," he said.
He said this to reporters after attending the state police traffic investigation and enforcement Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house on Tuesday (May 24).
Comm Kamarul said that however, there has been an increase in the number of accidents resulting in injuries this year compared to in 2019.
"The number of people who were injured in accidents have increased to 8,621 this year from only 2,486 in 2019.
"There is also a significant increase in the number of summonses issued this year. A total of 39,235 summonses were issued this year compared to only 18,219 two years ago," he said.
Meanwhile, in a separate event, state Road Transport Department (JPJ) director Azmil Zainal said that the department would be focusing on increasing awareness and advocacy in dealing with the use of micromobility vehicles on the roads.
He said that this is partly because the use of such vehicles was still uncommon in the state.
"While actions can be taken in accordance with the law, we are now focusing more on advocacy.
"The use of such vehicles is also considered rather new and we need to first give advice and advocacy to the public before taking action directly.
"However, we will take actions wherever necessary," he told reporters during the state JPJ Hari Raya Open house here on Tuesday (May 24).