Malaysia reports drop in road fatality rate

Improving road safety is being seen in Malaysia. According to the Royal 875 Malaysian Police, the number of fatalities from road crashes dropped to 4,940 during the first nine months of 2015 and ending on September 30th.  The death rate for the same period in 2014 was 5,138. Road deaths involving motorcyclists reaching 3,098 across Malaysia during the nine month period. Selangor reported the highest number of crashes of all types during the first nine months of 2015, with 104,105 incidents. There were 26,928 crashes in Perak, 29,734 in Penang, 47,942 in Kuala Lumpur and 49,814 in Johor during this period also. The Royal Malaysian Police plans to introduce automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology as part of its drive to flag traffic offenders and vehicles used in criminal activities in the country. The first stage of the ANPR project is costing US$6.8 million and will commence in two months. This phase will involve 20 cameras that will installed at nine border crossings as well as other key locations.