Transport engineering lecturer at the Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Civil Engineering, Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah has called on the authorities to enforce traffic regulations to break their bad habits and lower their death toll on the road, The Sun Daily reported.
The matter is urgent, considering that motorcyclists accounted for 70 out of every 100 road deaths in Malaysia as of August 2021, said Ahmad Farhan.
“Unlicensed motorcyclists in the country learn bad habits since childhood when parents allow them to ride their machines around their housing estates and villages. Even enforcement officers look on smilingly when they see children riding around their housing estates. The fact that no action is taken emboldens them to act as they wish,” he said.
Motorcyclists only follow the rules to obtain a license, and the rules are disregarded after that, and no longer follow them in daily life which is the root cause of the high accident rate, The Sun Daily quoted Ahmad Farhan as saying.
According to Universiti Putra Malaysia road safety research centre chief Law Teik Hua, it is easy for motorcyclists to beat traffic lights as motorcycles generally can accelerate quickly, and the lack of enforcement allows them to make reckless decisions such as running red lights.
“If enforcement is stepped up, it will force motorcyclists to keep within the traffic rules, and as more of them do so, it will be awkward for others to break the law. Education about road safety must be stepped up and young children need to learn about the dangers they will face if they continue to ignore the regulations,” Law said.
According to the UPM road safety research centre chief, enforcement officers can employ the latest technology to ensure that motorcyclists are aware that they are being monitored, and can be hauled up for traffic offences at any time.
Law said that although there are motorcycle-specific lanes on highways, most motorcyclists prefer to use the main roads as they are newer and well built, while motorcycle lanes are over 40 years old, The Sun Daily quoted him as saying.
“The government must actively begin building more segregated motorcycle lanes and warn motorcyclists to use them or face the consequences,” Law said.