INGENIEUR
Red Light Running in
Malaysia & Sustainable
Solutions
By Hawa Mohamed Jamil
Intelligent Transport and System Development Unit, Road Safety Engineering and
Environment Research Centre, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research
T
raffic accidents are one of
the major causes of injuries
and fatalities in Malaysia. A
Statistical Report on Road Accidents
in Malaysia for year 2015, published
by the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP)
stated that there were 489,606
traffic accidents reported in 2015,
1.4% of which involved fatalities.
In total, 6,706 road users lost their
lives that year. Of the fatal crashes
in 2015, 14 occurred at signalised
junctions and were suspected to be a result of
traffic light violations, or commonly referred to as
red light running (RLR).
Red light running is one of the most serious
traffic violations due to its ‘willful’ nature and
grave consequences. Motorists who commit this
violation have a very high possibility to collide with
other road users including pedestrians who enter
the intersection legally. Studies have shown that
the injuries resulting from crashes related to red
light running are more likely to be very serious. In
Malaysia, the number of fatalities at signalised
junctions has shown a downward trend for the
past nine years.
This trend could be related to the use of the
Automated Enforcement System (AES) to combat
red light running. Since 2012, the Government
has installed AES cameras at selected locations
as a measure to reduce red light running.
What is Red Light Running?
Options to solve red light running could depend
on the proper definition of red light running itself.
A study conducted by Shinar described red light
running as a deliberate, aggressive act that allows
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Fatalities at Traffic Light from 2007 – 2015.
(Source: PRDM)
the frustrated driver to move ahead at the cost
of infringing on other road users’ rights. Previous
studies categorised groups of red light runners
based on the following situation: indecision due
to slower traffic, caught in the dilemma zone and
deliberately running the light. Generally, a driver
is defined as a red light runner when he or she
proceeds across the stop bar of an intersection
after the traffic light has changed to red. A study
by Retting and William however added “crossing
0.5 seconds after red” as the definition of red light
running.
The Dilemma Zone
Recently, a video of a traffic accident at an
intersection in Pandan Indah went viral and
became a hot topic among Malaysian netizens.
The video that was captured from a dashboard
camera showed a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)
colliding with a motorcycle inside the yellow box of
a signalised intersection, sending the motorcyclist
flying into the air before landing motionless
on the road. It was reported that the MPV was