Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - The police recorded 2,775 accident cases last year compared to 2,674 cases in 2007, up by 3.77 per cent (101 cases). Out of the total, 1,289 involved car crashes and 1,192 self-accidents. Car crashes and self-accidents also increased last year compared to 2007.

Last year, 23 road accidents led to 29 fatalities compared to 54 deaths in 2007, down by 46 per cent. Out of the 29 fatalities, 20 involved male drivers. This was the lowest in the past five years. Of the fatalities, five drivers and passengers failed to use safety belts.

This was highlighted by the Director of Investigation Department and Traffic Control of the Royal Brunei Police Force, ACP Pg Hj Abd Wahab bin Pg Hj Omar, in a press conference yesterday after the police parade marking their 88' anniversary.

In 2008, 57 people suffered serious injuries compared to 74 in 2007, down by 23 per cent,

while 458 people sustained minor injuries compared to 482 in 2007, down by 4.97 per cent.

Out of 29 road fatalities, 19 were Bruneians and 10 were foreigners and those aged 18 to 24 years old constituted the highest number of victims with 12 fatalities.

Those aged between 20 to 59 years old constituted the highest age group involved in car accidents.

Brunei-Muara reported the most cases with 1,773 accidents and 14 deaths followed by Belait with 604 accident cases and six fatalities; Tutong with 367 cases and nine fatalities; and Temburong with 31 cases but no fatalities.

In the context of areas prone to accidents, for the BruneiMuara District, 923 accident cases were reported at main roads, 502 along highways, 167 at traffic light junctions and another 78 cases at roundabouts.

For the Tutong District, 127 accident cases were reported at main roads and another 235 along highways, while in Belait, 368 were recorded in main roads, 113 in highways and 36 at roundabouts.

On the type of vehicles, 3,082 accidents involved salon cars, 574 four-wheel drive vehicles, 423 station wagon cars, 65 vans, 49 motorcycles and 103 involved heavy vehicles.

A total of 196 operations were conducted last year compared to 188 in 2007 with 2,659 summons issued compared to 1,780 summons in 2007.

Of the summons, failure to wear safety belt constituted 573 summons last year, modified vehicles (448), using hand-phones while behind the wheel (48), expired road tax (463), failure to possess driving licence (170) and another 389 summons were issued for driving without any insurance.

Meanwhile, the police issued 14,114 compounds compared to 10,398 in 2007. Out of the figure, speeding constituted 5,633 cases compared to 4,893 in 2007, jumping red light consisted of 1,002 cases compared to 1,280 in 2007 and illegal U-turns recorded 989 cases compared to 575 in 2007.

Based on the survey conducted by the police last year, most of the accidents were caused by the drivers' failure to abide by road traffic rules such as tailgating, failing to reduce speed, especially during rainy season, carelessness and failure to adhere to road signs and traffic lights, and overtaking.

In accidents that caused fatalities, there were cases of drivers who were intoxicated. There has also been an increase in road deaths caused by speeding, failure to wear seat belts and making illegal U-turns. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin