Malaysian Road Crash Data: Current Dimension and Future Potential

Abstract

Road traffic crash is not only a global pandemic that kills more than a million people a year but has also become a major public health concern in majority of countries, including Malaysia. Various efforts were performed to offset the death figures. And most of the decisions taken to improve road safety are based on traffic crash data, which makes it the backbone of any country’s road safety system. In Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) plays a major role in road crash data collection besides the routine traffic management and enforcement activities. To complement that, Malaysia is among the very few countries in ASEAN that possess its own research-based road crash investigations as an effort in evidence-based approach in tackling road safety issues. Inputs from the in-depth research-based investigation are reported to policy makers and relevant authorities/industries and helped in development of safety countermeasures. However, in a broader sense, there are various other sources of information that could contribute to the richness of road crash information in the country. Future trend understanding and potential efforts in consolidating these data pool will further enhance the national crash database and open for new dimension of Malaysian crash database.