GEORGE TOWN: The accident that killed eight teenage boys, who were riding mosquito bikes in Johor Baru on Saturday, have shaken parents around the country.
Nurul Suzana Alayudin, 45, said she could understand the pain of the victims’ parents. The mother of three said she allowed her 13-year-old son to ride his modified bicycle as it was a harmless activity.
“I only allow my son, Mohd Shariffudin Mohd Halim, to ride his bicycle around our flat during the weekends. I never allow him out at night.”
Shariffudin said he and his friends often raced their bicycles on empty road stretches.
His friend, Muhammad Amal Majid, 14, said: “We do not ride our bicycles at night because as much as we want to, our parents will kill us.”
In Kuantan, a cycling enthusiast who runs a bicycle spare parts shop in Jalan Beserah advised mosquito bike enthusiasts to use safer places like parks and to ride during daytime.
Shamsul Rahman, 30, said the JB incident highlighted the dangers of riding bicycles on busy roads in the wee hours.
The 30-year-old urged the government to play a role in encouraging the enthusiasm of young cyclists through proper supervision.
He said the Pahang government should follow Terengganu’s move in constructing a special track for these cyclists.
In Kota Kinabalu, teenagers in Putatan use village roads to ride their mosquito bicycles. They will perform stunts with no fear of oncoming vehicles.
Journalist Jenny Lajiun, 46, said these cyclists became more adventurous at night when there was less traffic.
“They will ride in convoys and will simply overtake each other without checking for incoming traffic,” she said, adding that most of them wear dark clothing, too.
She said the lack of a suitable
area was the reason why they took their modified bicycles to the open road.
Photographer Jojoi Talim, 52, said the JB incident reminded him of his son, who led a group of 50 mosquito bike cyclists three years ago.
“It was a trend. They would move in a group of between 10 and 50 cyclists, and would spend the wee hours on the roads.”
Kota Kinabalu police chief Assistant Commissioner M. Chandra said police had not seized or detected such activities in Sabah yet.
“However, we are monitoring. If there is any attempt to start such a sub-culture here, action will be taken.”
In Kuala Lumpur, Kelab Kayuhan Jelajah president Hairul Faizal Hussain said the mosquito bicycle phenomenon was found only in rural areas.
Hairul said the bicycles were modified to look like motorcycles.
On Saturday, eight children, one of them as young as 8, were killed when a car rammed into them as they were cycling along the Middle Ring Road in JB.
The incident occurred at 3.30am when the children, aged between 8 and 16, were riding downhill along the stretch leading to the traffic light in Jalan Sungai Chat, near Thistle Hotel. Additional reporting by Avila Geraldine and June Moh