Lam Thye welcomes proposal over motorcycle lanes under 12th Plan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 -- Social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye has welcomed a proposal for the construction of segregated traffic lanes for the small engine or kapcai motorcyclists under the five-year 12th Malaysia Plan that takes off in 2021.

In supporting the proposal, made by Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang in his Off the Cuff column in theSundaily, Lee said it is most necessary to have motorcycle lanes to reduce the number of road accidents involving motorcyclists and pillion-riders.

“Due to the lack of motorcycle lanes, motorcyclists are forced to share the road with the bigger vehicles. That’s the reason why motorcycles are involved in 60 per cent of the road accidents.

“Some motorcyclists do not use the existing motorcycle lanes because they are uneven and riddled with potholes and the street lights do not function at night. Thus, it is important for the government to give priority to maintenance,” Lee told Bernama.

He said that the authorities will also have to help reduce the number of road accidents and advice motorcyclists to adhere to the speed limits.

Azman, who is a member of the Safety First Group, a huge WhatsApp community, has raised the plight of motorcyclists, especially the kapcai riders, who make up the most number of people killed or  injured on the roads.

In his column today, Azman said that although no motorcycle lanes on a nationwide scale have been thought of for the past 11 Malaysia plans despite an average of 13 to 14 deaths daily or over 4,700 a year among motorcyclists, the Safety First Group, for example, is praying hard that at long last such lanes could become a reality in the new plan.

-- BERNAMA