A nationwide safety campaign timed to coincide with the festive season has failed to curb the death toll, with more than 2,000 accidents in the past few days.

In all, 156 people have died in traffic accidents since the start of the police safety campaign on October 17, compared to 145 deaths in the same period last year, the Bernama news agency said, citing federal traffic police statistics.

Thousands of Malaysians have taken to the roads in the past week for holidays or to return to their home villages and towns for the Hindu Deepavali and Muslim Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivals.

A total of 35 people were killed on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first two days of Hari Raya, alone, and 2,605 traffic accidents have been reported since Oct 17.

Most of those killed were motorcyclists and pillion riders, prompting the Works Ministry to propose Wednesday that special motorcycle lanes be constructed along accident-prone stretches of road, Bernama said.

The road safety campaign involves 5,554 police officers and ends Oct 31.