Black Spots

Safer travel after road repairs

BY PATRICK LEE

PETALING JAYA: Stretches of federal roads and highways identified as “black spots” for accidents are now safer for travel after the Public Works Department repaired 84 of these last year.

Works included putting up road signs reminding motorists to be more careful, installing night driving reflectors, yellow strips and transverse bars, and other safety measures.

According to data released by the Works Ministry, most of these “black spots” fixed last year were in Perak, with 19 of them recorded for trunk roads and highways.

Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak followed in second place, with 10 black spots repaired in each state last year. All of them were on trunk roads.

Perak also recorded the highest number of black spots fixed in 2012, with a total of 19 trunk road and highway stretches “rehabilitated” for safer travel.

Negri Sembilan was second with six black spots fixed, all of which were on trunk roads.

A total of 60 black spots were repaired that year.

A stretch of road is designated a black spot if three accidents occur within 50m of that area.

A ministry spokesman said the accidents were categorised according to fatalities, victim hospitalisations, slight injuries and vehicle damage.

The greater the damage or loss of life, the higher the priority to fix the area.

“Blackspots are identified due to engineering factors but most accidents occurring on the highways are due to human factors like speeding,” he said.

He confirmed that 66 black spots were identified on stretches of federal roads in 2012, with another 61 last year.

However, he did not specify the locations.

A total of RM4.9bil had been set aside for the Works Ministry for the maintenance of federal roads from 2010 until this year.

The Star had reported Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof as saying that the ministry had identified 50 more black spots, which will be repaired this year.

He added that the Government had identified 581 projects worth RM28mil to be set aside for G1 class contractors nationwide for minor maintenance works on federal roads.