KUALA LUMPUR: Prominent social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye today proposed the setting up of a special task force under the Transport Ministry to curb the high death toll among motorcyclists in the country.
Lee, who is also a member of the National Road Safety Council and chairman of newly-formed Alliance for Safe Community, said the focus of the task force should be to create a whole new motorcycle riding culture to put an end to speeding, which is the major cause of fatal motorcycle crashes.
"Reducing the speed limit for motorcyclists is a must if this proposed new riding culture is to be effective. Another strategy is for the creation of special lanes for motorcyclists away from the mixed or fast lanes," he told Bernama.
Lee, who was the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) chairman, said he strongly believed that if the necessary laws were enacted to enforce this new and safer riding culture, would sharply drop in fatal crashes.
"On the larger picture, it is long overdue that we inculcate a safer riding culture to save this highly preventable and meaningless loss of lives who are mostly our youth aged between 16 and 36," Lee added.
Lee urged Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong to consider seriously the formation of the task force and to accord the proposal the urgency that it deserved.
An average of over 4,000 motorcyclists and pillion riders were killed in such crashes annually.
Lee cited studies by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) which showed that if the maximum speed for motorcycles is limited to 80km per hour, fatal crashes could be reduced by as much as 80 per cent.
He added that because nothing effective had been done over the years to address this critical life-and-death issue, the number of fatal crashes had not changed and would even escalate with the sharp increase in motorcycles on the road.
"These special lanes must be rolled out throughout the country but have to be properly maintained as well.
"This is very important when they are problems due to insufficient lighting, potholes or water clogging, the local authorities should take remedial action to reduce the impact of such crashes," he said.
He said during the current movement control order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and because Malaysians complied with the standard operating procedure (SOP) to keep safe from the virus, the number of deaths had been low compared to many other countries.
"If Malaysians follow strictly the SOP on the road as they do for Covid-19, I am confident we can significantly bring down the high rate of fatal road crashes," he said.
The social activist said these problems were not new but recurring and yet preventive action was either very slow or non-existent.
Citing an example, he quoted a remark by MIROS chairman Datuk Suret Singh that the exclusive motorcycle lanes along the Federal Highway from Kuala Lumpur to Klang mostly reported zero deaths over the past 20 years despite a very high usage by motorcycles.
The Federal Highway is also recognised as Malaysia's busiest expressway with virtually 24-hour traffic.
Lee also noted that the necessity for this new life-saving riding culture had been frequently highlighted by former Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang in his weekly newspaper column.
"I have suggested to the Transport Minister to consider and implement his suggestions on this issue," he added. -- BERNAMA