PLUS adopts 3E approach to road safety

In a statement today, the highway concessionaire said that it focuses on the use of the latest technology applications to improve safety such as road pavement, road barriers, road safety equipment and video analytics technology.

“For instance, on the Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar route, PLUS has made improvements to the engineering aspects such as the installation of concrete road barriers, rumble strips and so on to increase the level of safety on the route,” it said.

PLUS also collaborates with authorities such as the Royal Malaysia Police, Road Transport Department (RTD) and Land Public Transport Agency to improve compliance and enforcement of road safety laws.

This collaboration resulted in a total of 96 ‘Ops Halangan’ mounted in 2019 in efforts to check against heavy vehicles carrying dangerous loads, it said.

PLUS is also working with the RTD to install more Automated Awareness Safety System (AWAS) cameras at four selected locations on its highways to reduce accidents due to drivers driving over the speed limit.

Meanwhile, PLUS is educating road users on highway safety via social media by organising road safety awareness programmes such as the Expressway Operation Safety Passport (EOSP) introduced in 2018.

As a result of the EOSP awareness programme, the number of deaths involving highway workers has been reduced by 75 per cent, it added.

In addition, the 3E approach has led to a decrease in the number of accidents on the highways where on average between 2013 and 2019, only 2.6 per cent of traffic accidents nationwide occurred on PLUS highways.

The company is also ranked as the number one top-performing operator of the closed system highways in terms of safety and comfort by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) this year and the first highway operator in Asia to receive the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its road safety initiatives in 2019.