Road crash dynamics in Malaysia: Analysis of trends and patterns

Abstract

Road crashes represent a significant public health and safety concern globally, and Malaysia is no exception. Understanding the trends and patterns of road crashes is essential for devising effective strategies to mitigate risks and enhance road safety. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of road crash dynamics, focusing on road users, severity patterns and geographical patterns in Malaysia from 2012 to 2022. Data sourced from the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) are utilized to examine various aspects of road crashes. Road crash trend, geographical patterns, linear trend analysis and K-means clustering are employed to explore patterns of road crash in Malaysia. The findings reveal that motorcycles consistently emerged as the most involved road user. Geographical patterns discovered that Selangor exhibits higher crash number. Linear trend analysis revealed significant upward trends in crash frequency prior to the pandemic, while the number of fatalities resulting from road crash showed a downward trend over the observed period. K-means clustering identified that Selangor recorded high total crashes and high total of fatalities. This study also considers the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on road crash dynamics, highlighting changes in travel patterns and behaviour. There also have been notable successes, such as the reduction in total fatalities and the effectiveness of targeted interventions via the accomplishments of initiatives of Malaysian Road Safety Plan 2014–2022.