Motorcyclist's attitude among contributing factors to road accidents

KAJANG, Nov 5  -- The attitude of riders of motorcycles with engine capacity of 250 cc or less who like to ride above the speed limit and to weave dangerously between lanes has been identified as one of the causes of road accidents involving the group.

Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) board of directors’ chairman Datuk Suret Singh explained that motorcycles with an engine capacity of 250 cc or less are not suitable to be in the right lane because the brake system is not as efficient as other high-performance vehicles.

He said that based on study conducted by MIROS, in last year alone, more than 4,000 motorcyclists were reported killed in road accidents with an average of 11 deaths per day.

“From study conducted by MIROS from 2012 to 2017, we found that 50 per cent of accidents occurred on federal roads, followed by municipal roads (19 per cent), state roads (16 per cent), residential area roads (12 per cent) and highways (three per cent),” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama at the MIROS office here, recently.

“Only three per cent of accidents involving motorcyclists occurred on the highway because the majority of them were using the left instead of the right lane.

“Our observation also found that riders of small-capacity engine motorcycles are fond of using the right lane when the speed on that particular lane can reach up to 120km per hour compared to the speed in the left lane at 70km per hour.

“Hence, it is time for these motorcyclists to cultivate self-control by prioritising road safety by riding in the left lane to reduce the risk of road and fatal accidents,” he said.

Riders of small-capacity engine motorcycles found flouting the rules can be prosecuted under Section 42 of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless and dangerous driving, he said.

He also urged motorcyclists to observe the road rules set and apply all things they learned at the driving school.

-- BERNAMA