DANGEROUS: Despite incorporating safety measures, 10 locations along the highways nationwide remain as deadly stretches
KUALA LUMPUR: MOTORISTS travelling on the highways nationwide should be aware of 10 dangerous stretches.
The accident prone stretches are deemed as “blackspots” and six of these are on the North-South Expressway, which is also the longest highway, measuring 775km.
Malaysian Highway Authority’s 2012 annual report lists the blackspot locations which include Km230.6 on the southbound route from Changkat Jering to Kuala Kangsar, Km414.1 on the northbound route from Bukit Tagar to Lembah Beringin and Km212.7 on the southbound route from Simpang Ampat to Ayer Keroh.
The other blackspots include Km40.3 on the southbound route from Sedenak to Kulai, Km44.3 on the southbound route from KLIA to Nilai (U) as well as Km21.4 on the northbound route at the Putrajaya interchange.
There are two locations along the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway that are marked as blackspots.
The first location is Km75.8 on the eastbound route from Bentong Timur to Karak and the second is Km46.3 on the westbound route from Genting Sempah to Bukit Tinggi.
Road resurfacing using micro surfacing has been used to upgrade the safety at these places.
The Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway at the Km29.0 on the northbound route at the Uniten Interchange is also marked as a blackspot.
Speed limit signs have been installed to warn motorists to adhere to the 40kph ruling.
The last blackspot is on the Shah Alam Expressway at motorcycle lanes of Km47.5 on the eastbound route of the Awan Besar toll plaza.
Warning signs and speed breakers have been installed there.
According to the report, mitigation efforts undertaken to improve these stretches include the installation of safety signboards and road markings, installation of road studs, improvement of pavement using Porous Asphalt Pavement as well as improvements using micro surfacing.
While a slew of safety features have been added by highway concessionaires on the advise of the authority, motorists need to err on the side of caution and stay alert while travelling on these stretches.
There are also other stretches with high frequency of accidents cases, some of which have been fatal such as the notorious Gua Tempurung stretch on the North-South Expressway.
Yesterday’s accident at the deadly Km301.6 stretch claimed the life of prominent lawyer-cum-politician Karpal Singh, his personal assistant Michael Cornelius while his Indonesian maid remains in critical condition.
Karpal’s son Ramkarpal and the driver escaped with minor injuries when their Toyota Alphard rammed into the side of a lorry.
Last month an express bus fell into a ravine at Km301.5 on the same stretch killing the driver and injuring two others.
When asked whether the stretch was an accident prone area and what were the standard operation procedures taken by the authority to ensure that safety concerns were addressed by concessionaires, director-general Datuk Ismail Salleh declined to comment.
“I am reluctant to say anything. I leave it to PLUS (the concessionaire and operator of the highway) and let the police investigate the matter,” said Ismail.
At press time, PLUS Malaysia Bhd, was still preparing a reply to our questions.
-NST
