LPT2 needs more dividers that absorb accident impact - Miros

The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) is proposing the installation of road safety dividers that can absorb the impact of crashes on the East Coast Highway 2 (LPT2) in view of the frequent accidents reported at the highway.

The Director of Road Safety Engineering and Environment Research Centre of Miros, Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak said improvements such as the provision of 'crash cushions' equipped with safety features could reduce the impact when an accident occurred.

She said the use of dividers without the crash cushion or with the crash cushion could give differing impacts, for example, when a car crashed at high speed onto the final terminal without the crash cushion this could lead to fatality.

"But the impact at the same speed can reduce the risk to merely a serious injury because the impact of the accident had been absorbed by the cushion," she told Bernama.

She was commenting on the frequent accidents reported on the LPT2 since it was opened on Jan 31 last year, including the latest involving Bernama Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab at Km 395.4 of the highway near Ajil, yesterday afternoon.

Siti Zaharah also proposed the installation of speed-trap cameras such as the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) to reduce the number of road users exceeding the permitted speed on the highway.

"Vehicle drivers are also recommended to improve the safety system of their vehicles through the electronic stability control (ESC) system to avoid the vehicle from spinning during accidents," she said.

Siti Zaharah said the attitude of road users who exceeded the speed limit of 110 kph was perceived to be among the factors contributing to accidents on the LPT2.

A study carried out in October last year found that 65 per cent of vehicles were driven at more than the speed limit of 110 kph, with the maximum speed being 179 kph, while the average speed for passenger cars was 129 kph, and heavy vehicles at 93 kph, she said.

She pointed out that the study also revealed that the geometric design of the road on LPT2 had met the highway standards in Malaysia while the quality of construction could not be disputed.

"The tests conducted on road surfaces found that they had surpassed the level allowed and there was no problem arising from the road surfaces," she said.

Siti Zaharah also suggested that the LPT2 concession company increased the number of Rest and Service facilities along the LPT2.