Screeching recklessly around the corner is the Chinese New Year balik kampung period – and right on its (monkey) tail is Ops Sikap. Comprising a sleek convoy of government agencies, including the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the police, the Department of Environment and the Immigration Department, Ops Sikap will gingerly nose itself into traffic and patrol the highways from today until 16th February, in a (possibly) futile attempt to minimize the automotive carnage that traditionally splatters itself onto every inch of Malaysian pavement during the riotous festive season.
Rapturous though we are over PTSD-stricken authorities keeping a twitchy eye on our careering vehicles, the fact remains that Malaysian roads have been ranked the 17th most dangerous in the world (according to traumatized researchers from the University of Michigan); Malaysian drivers have been denounced as the worst in Southeast Asia (by the freaked-out World Health Organisation (WHO)); and 60% of local traffic accidents have been determined to be caused by speeding (as reported by the gauze-wrapped Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)). Notwithstanding that the bloodiest road calamities in Malaysian history have all involved mammoth buses, and that the highways are at their most homicidal during the holidays, the vast majority of road transport tangles involve light vehicles and motorcycles, and occur even on the most ‘meh’ of days.
Deadliest single accidents in Malaysian history:
22 August, 2013
An express bus with 53 occupants from 6 different countries rammed a divider while negotiating a steep slope, and plunged into a 60-metre ravine near Genting Highlands, en route to KL. A staggering thirty-seven people, mostly foreigners, died at the scene – making the accident the deadliest road mishap in Malaysian history. An investigation later revealed that the bus, which had exceeded its maximum capacity of 44 passengers, had been placed on a blacklist by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) well in advance of its fatal journey.
20 December, 2010
A double-decker tour bus packed with Thai holidaymakers returning to KL from Cameron Highlands lost control while negotiating a sharp bend, smashed violently into a divider and went airborne, somersaulted and crashed upside-down in a ditch. The impact was so great that the roof was sheared off, and some passengers were flung through the air, landing many metres away. Of the 37 passengers on board, only 10 survived with severe injuries. Road safety experts later questioned the wisdom behind using a double-decker bus for steep, uphill travel, which they judged highly unsuitable.
28 February, 1990
The notorious Karak highway was the scene of one of the grisliest road accidents in Malaysian history. A multiple-vehicle pile-up occurred when a fast-moving passenger bus collided with a tanker lorry, 6 cars, 2 taxis, a truck and a number of Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) riot police vehicles. Seventeen people, including 11 FRU personnel, were killed, and many more injured. Thousands of vehicles heading to and from KL were tangled in a resulting jam of epic proportions which lasted many hours.
13 August, 2007
A 42-seater coach en route from Melaka to Butterworth crashed through a steel barrier while cruising downhill near Bukit Gantang, Perak, and nosedived into a 6-metre ravine. Twenty two of the bus’ occupants (some of whom were catapulted from the vehicle) were killed, while all surviving passengers were severely injured – with the notable exception of a 24 year-old Nepali man, who walked away with barely a scratch. A police investigation later revealed that the deceased bus driver had had 13 summonses and two warrants of arrest for traffic offences, while his employer, the bus operator, had previously been slapped with 19 summonses.
10 October, 2007
An express bus heading north on the North-South Expressway near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza struck the rear of a car, swerved into the median guardrail, crashed through to the opposite lane, and ploughed into an oncoming bus, two cars, a van and a motorcycle. Thirteen people from all vehicles involved were killed, and 45 were injured, many seriously.
July 16, 1996
A chartered bus filled with vacationing factory workers and their families lost control while descending Genting Highlands and plummeted headlong down a 120 metre-deep gully. Seventeen passengers – including 6 children – were killed, while 15 others were seriously injured.
23 November, 2003
Two express buses collided along Jalan Lipis-Merapoh, near the Pahang-Kelantan border, killing 14 people.
12 April 2001
The brakes of a tour bus failed as it cruised along Jalan Baling-Pengkalan Hulu in Kedah, causing the coach to career off the road and crash into a ditch. Twelve women and 1 young boy were killed, while many others were gravely injured.
Deadliest 2 weeks in Malaysian road traffic history:
2015’s Ops Selamat 7, which covered the peak 15-day travel period during Hari Raya Aidilfitri, saw a record-breaking 20,458 cases of road accidents nationwide, resulting in an astounding 330 deaths – statistics which shocked the motoring public, and baffled police. It was the highest death toll in the Ops’ 21-year history – one which averaged 22 fatalities a day, 60% of which were motorcyclists.