LETTER | 'Vaccines' to save motorcyclists' lives already available

LETTER | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has expressed concern over the high rate of road crashes among motorcyclists as well as the apparent weakness of law enforcement.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has expressed his willingness for his ministry to review the provisions of the existing law to reduce the number of road crashes involving motorcycle users.

The solutions and vaccines are already there if the government is willing to be serious about saving motorcyclists’ lives. If during the Covid-19 era, the government introduced vaccines to save millions, then vaccines to curb the destruction of motorcyclists already exist and should be mobilised as soon as possible.

I propose and urge the government to take drastic action by enacting a new law on motorcycle purchases and introducing a new category of motorcycle licensing as proposed by the Royal Malaysia Police.

For every 100 road deaths, 70 were motorcycle users according to last year's road fatalities data prepared by the Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department.

The highest fatalities group are those aged 16 to 20 years and many motorcyclists aged six to 15 years were also killed and injured.

I expect the number of deaths and injuries for motorcyclists among teenagers and children to continue to increase every year by looking at the trend over the past few years due to the lack of serious and comprehensive action by the establishment.

Call for action and solution

A) Prohibits the purchase of motorcycles against those without a driving licence or riding motorcycles from 100cc to 185cc and also 250cc and 500cc and above.

• Time for the government and authorities to enact a new law by not allowing those who do not have a driving/riding license from purchasing underbone ‘kapcai’ motorcycles from 100cc to 185cc capacity.

• This practice has been a norm for ages in the industry and has resulted in many motorcycle owners continuing to ride motorbikes without a driving/riding license due to the mindset that they are already competent in handling the motorcycles and also the perception that the cost of getting a license is too high.

This also applies to those who can afford to purchase high-powered 250cc & 500cc and above motorcycles and those without a licence continue to ride big bikes without being discovered by the authorities.

• This is a common occurrence among parents without a riding license by buying 'kapcai' motorbikes for their children as a vehicle for them to go to school and causing many teenagers to be involved in road crashes.

I understand currently the Transport Ministry and Road Transport Department are in the process of drafting a new law related to the purchase of motorcycles by unlicensed riders and I am urging that the draft of the new law be expedited for tabling in the Dewan Rakyat.

B) Introduce a new category namely B3 motorcycle license for 70cc low-powered motorcycles for 16 to 25-year-old group.

• On Oct 8, 2019, police put forward a motion to curb and resolve the problem of mat rempit and cultivate a new culture among young riders at Malaysia’s Road Safety Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Sepang.

• The police propose for the Transport Ministry and the RTD to establish a new licensing category for motorcycle license holders of the 16 to 25-year-old group for them to be only allowed to ride small capacity combustion engine motorcycles (90cc and below) such as 70cc scooters or ‘kapcai’ below 90cc or even only ride low-powered electric motorcycles.

• This will follow the practice in Japan and the United Kingdom where youngsters from the age of 16 are only eligible to ride low-powered motorbikes with a maximum travelling speed of 90km/h.

• The motion, the police opined, was to form a new motorcycle culture so that teenagers will no longer ride fast and nimble ‘kapcai’ motorcycles from 100cc and up to 185cc which are capable of reaching speeds between 140km/h and 160km/h.

• For unknown reasons, the motion recorded as item 9.4 at the 60th Malaysia’s Road Safety Council AGM minutes as proposed by the police has been ignored by the Transport Ministry and the RTD until today.

• On Nov 25, 2021, a proposal to conduct a study on the effectiveness of restricting riders aged 16 to 25-year-old only to ride motorcycles with engine capacity of less than 90cc was discussed at length at the Board of Directors meeting of the Malaysia Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) and it was recorded in the minutes as Item 52.4 (2).

• The proposal to conduct a study known as the 2-52 Miros board paper was fully endorsed and backed by the then Miros chairperson Suret Singh and all members of the Miros Board of Directors. To date, the status of the study is unknown.

The government needs to implement the police’s motion proposed at Malaysia’s Road Safety Council AGM five years ago if it is serious and willing to tackle the problem of mat rempit menace and reduce the high number of road deaths and crashes among motorcyclists

It needs to introduce a new law to govern the purchase of motorcycles for those who do not have a driving/riding licence.

It will save billions of ringgit in economic losses and save the lives of young and future generations which will benefit the nation.

SHAHRIM TAMRIN is a road safety activist and former member of Miros Board of Directors.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.