Op Selamat 25: Police aiming for 5% drop in road deaths, accidents for 2026 Chinese New Year season

The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is targeting a 5% reduction in road deaths and accidents with Op Selamat 25 that will run from February 15 to 20 for the 2026 Chinese New Year season, Bernama has reported.

Projections indicate that more than 2.8 million vehicles will take to major highways nationwide, and that surge in traffic will increase the risk of accidents, said IGP Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail. “We expect a surge in traffic given the close timing of the Chinese New Year and the start of Ramadan. Our objective is to reduce road accidents and deaths by at least 5% compared to the previous Op Selamat,” he said.

Strict enforcement would be carried out for six major offences, namely speeding, dangerous overtaking, using mobile phones while driving, running red lights, misusing emergency lanes and driving while fatigued.

Earlier this week, the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) stated that traffic flow on highways is expected to increase as early as Friday, February 13, ahead of the Chinese New Year public holidays, and traffic volume could reach a peak of 3.27 million vehicles.

Major highways operated by PLUS Malaysia are expected to make up the bulk of traffic during the celebrations with 2.2 million vehicles, followed by the Karak Highway (210,000), East Coast Expressway (90,000 Phase 1, 40,000 Phase 2) and West Coast Expressway (160,000).

Meanwhile, connecting highways like the DUKE, LATAR and LEKAS, which lead to major highways, are projected to see traffic volumes of 275,000, 145,000 and 150,000 vehicles respectively.

The projected peak days on the PLUS Malaysia highway network are February 12 to 14, 2026 for outbound travel from the Klang Valley, and on February 20 to 22, 2026 for traffic returning to the Klang Valley. To aid in managing the increased volume of traffic on its highways, PLUS Malaysia will activate Smart Lanes in a total of 32 locations across its highway network.