Police have warned the remaining 250,000 of the 1.7 million traffic offenders issued with summonses in Ops Warta to pay up or face stern action.

Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the police had arrested more than 5,000 individuals who had been issued with warrants of arrest.

He was speaking to reporters at a ceremony to present commendation letters to courteous road users and best contingent or district during Op Selamat  4/2014 (Chinese New Year) at KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur today.

Some 14,836 road accident cases were recorded from Jan 24 to Feb 7 compared to 16,287 cases during the same festival last year, a drop of 8.9 percent or 1,451 cases.

Khalid said there were 152 cases of fatal road accidents compared to 177 cases during Ops Selamat last year, a drop of 14.1 percent or 25 cases.

The drop in the number of road accidents and fatalities were due to the  success of ‘total enforcement’ and the drivers attitude who were more careful when driving.

“Previously, we gave advice but there was little enforcement. This year, we  increased enforcement by 30 percent leading to a drop in the number of road accidents and fatalities involving cars and motorcycle pillion riders,” he added.

- Bernama