The RXZ Fighter Gathering, which saw some 50,000 bikers getting together in Kuantan, was touted as a success, but will also be remembered for some shocking scenes earlier.
One motorcyclist was killed on the way to the gathering when he grazed a lorry, and another died when he crashed his bike into the metal railing along the East Coast Expressway. There’s no telling how many others were involved in accidents.
There are many videos going round of madcap riders in convoys heading for the gathering. One shows a motorcyclist looking into his phone while riding down a highway. He was speaking into it and even seemed to bend over to kiss the screen.
He did not notice the lorry behind him. And for some reason, the lorry driver did not notice him either. The lorry smashed into the rider.
There were also these three crazy youths racing on the highway. As they passed a pick-up truck, they knocked into each other, with two bikes careening across the road. Apparently, they had cut their brakes just to soup up their bikes. It was suicidal madness!
The number of motorcyclists dying on the road is quite shocking. According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, some 4,480 bikers died in road accidents last year. That’s 12 a day, or one every two hours.
It’s almost as bad as the Covid-19 pandemic, where people were dying every hour. We needed the Health Ministry to track the number of dead, with the cases and fatalities being updated in the newspapers every day.
Ironically enough, Loke wants to bring those updates back, only this time for road accidents and deaths.
The idea, ostensibly, is to shock people into being more careful on the roads. But just putting numbers in newspapers is not going stop the carnage on our roads. More needs to be done.
In Covid-19 terms, a motorcyclist on the road is like a person without a mask standing next to a sneezing patient. The risks are that high.
“A person on a motorcycle is 16 times more likely to get into a fatal accident compared with a person driving a car, and 42 times more likely to get killed compared to a person on a bus,” Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon has been quoted as saying.
Many, like those who died heading to the gathering in Kuantan, just seem to be in self-destruct mode and put themselves in the line of fire. They treat our roads like race tracks, do not wear protective gear, and choose to ride in a dangerous fashion.
And far too often, we have seen the authorities turn a blind eye in places like the Pantai Expressway in the Klang Valley, the East-Coast Expressway and various parts of the North-South Expressway, especially the stretch from Prai in Penang.
The cops have also been slow in taking action against those who zip around traffic without helmets and beating red lights. They can be seen everywhere in PJ Selatan, Kepong, Sungai Buloh and almost every small town in Malaysia.
To be fair, most motorcyclists are decent road users. I am one myself, having used my kap chai since my early days in Penang back in 1987. That bike still serves me well.
So, I do sympathise with their plight. Most cannot afford cars and need the bikes to move around or even earn a living, but there are those whose actions only serve to raise the hackles.
Take what happened in Kajang on Feb 20. A motorist knocked down an ehailing rider. We know little about what really happened, but it is known that the driver apologised. That could have been the end of it.
But no. The motorcyclist instead summoned his “rider gang” to chase down and stop the driver.
They caught him, tied him up and administered a brutal beating. The man died on the spot. He was no angel and was said to have been on drugs; but what gives anyone the right to beat another to death over a minor accident?
Six days later, a group of men beat up an ehailing driver after he nearly reversed into a motorcyclist in Cheras. Where does it stop?The number of motorcyclists on the road is just rising, especially with the 140,000 or so delivery riders or drivers in Malaysia, all part of a “gig economy” that mushroomed after the Covid-19 pandemic.
They serve a very convenient purpose – bringing meals and other items to homes, at very little extra cost.
But the other cost is very high. With the pandemic as good as over – and shops and restaurants open – there are too many of them chasing too few orders. They have to rush to get as many orders as they can, putting their lives at risk to make few ringgit more.Between 2018 and 2022, there were 1,242 accidents involving food delivery riders; 112 of them ended in deaths and more than 80 in serious injuries, according to Loke.
Each death is a tragedy, often a case of a struggling family losing a breadwinner.
So, what is the answer? Like many, I believe it is in getting motorcyclists out of the way of the regular traffic. Our roads – at least the ones where high speeds are possible – need to have dedicated motorcycle lanes. It could be costly, but there is no price you can put on 4,500 lives annually.
Or they could be restricted to the existing bus lanes. Our roads too need to be regularly maintained to get rid of potholes and remove obstructions that cause floods, which force motorcyclists onto the main highways.
Most importantly, we need monitoring to ensure that motorcyclists comply with the law, with no leeway given. For that, the cops have to be more serious.
The government is also looking at requiring p-hailing riders and drivers to obtain a Goods Driving Licence – or at least a special vocational licence – before they can work. It could be a cost the riders cannot afford. So, how about making the tests compulsory, but with the licences for free, or at a nominal cost?
The government is already looking at upgrading B2 licence holders to B for free. B2 licences are for bikes up to 250cc while B licences are for bikes above 500cc.
Imagine a madcap rider, already racing down the streets dangerously on his 100cc kap cai, now being allowed to ride a 500cc bike. It’s a scary thought.
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