PETALING JAYA — Highways across Malaysia ground to a crawl on Saturday due to heavy traffic and multiple accidents, signaling a chaotic start to the Chinese New Year holiday rush from the Klang Valley.
The Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) reported severe congestion at the Genting Sempah Toll Plaza on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway, with slow-moving traffic also plaguing the North-South Expressway from Rawang to Bukit Beruntung and Skudai to Kulai. PLUS Malaysia highlighted accidents at key markers including KM259.6 (Port Dickson to Senawang), KM300.3 (Tapah to Gopeng), KM429.4 (Sungai Buaya to Bukit Beruntung), KM280.7 (Bandar Ainsdale to Nilai), and KM161.6 (Jawi to Bandar Cassia).
In Johor, police anticipate a 30-40% surge in vehicles entering the state, including from Singapore, straining entry points like Bangunan Sultan Iskandar and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar. Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad, speaking after launching Ops Selamat 25 at Sutera Mall, revealed 47 congestion hotspots and 38 accident blackspots, deploying 1,800 personnel from February 15-20 to cut crashes by 5%, targeting motorcyclists after last year’s 1,169 incidents with five fatalities.
LLM forecasts 3.27 million vehicles nationwide during the festivities, with 2.2 million on PLUS highways alone, amid a now-ended 50% toll discount fueling the outbound surge. Ab Rahaman urged festive travelers to notify local stations before departing home.