TRAFFIC LIGHT VIOLATION AMONG MOTORISTS IN MALAYSIA

Road crashes in Malaysia in 2006 stood at 341,232. This resulted in 6,287 deaths among road users giving an index of 23.5 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. One of the possible reasons for the high number of crashes and injuries is due to beating traffic lights. Thus there is a need to investigate this alarming problem. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Selangor, Malaysia to identify road traffic-light violations. Traffic light violations are believed to be rising and resulted in 136 motorist fatalities and 155 injuries in 2002. Near-miss incidents could be higher as they go unreported. This study was conducted through observations from 14 December 2005 until 22 January 2006. Four locations were chosen to represent Selangor: Kajang, Kelang, Utara Subang Jaya (USJ) and Bangi. During this 5-week period a total of 3,471 vehicles were observed. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0. A bivariate analysis (logistic regression) was applied to determine any relationship between traffic light violation and five identified variables. The results showed traffic light violation has a relationship with all five factors: day (weekday or weekend), camera enforcement, type of vehicle (two-wheel vehicles or four-wheel vehicles), traffic light cycle time (long or short) and type of traffic lights (timer or normal).