Improve design of motorcycle lanes to save lives

RECENTLY, Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department director SAC Mahamad Akhir Darus warned motorcyclists to use the dedicated motorcycle lanes along the Federal Highway FT2 or face a RM300 fine.

As a blogger on highway issues, I would like to urge him to rectify some safety-related aspects of the motorcycle lanes before telling motorcyclists to use them.

Three key issues that deter Klang Valley motorcyclists from using the segregated motorcycle lanes are design, maintenance and crime. Of these, design is the main issue of concern.

SAC Mahamad Akhir said recently that superbikes, cruisers and scramblers are not exempted from using the motorcycle lanes, claiming that “the engineers have done their research and designed the lanes to accommodate all types of motorcycles”. I am very disappointed because this statement is disrespectful of the lives of motorcyclists because there are obvious engineering flaws in the current motorcycle lane design.

According to G. Ramasamy, one of the engineers responsible for the construction of the Federal Highway FT2, the present-day motorcycle lanes were originally intended for bicycles and were not designed for motorcycle traffic.

The segregated bicycle lanes were later converted into motorcycle lanes without taking into account the design-related issues.

This substandard design was also incorporated in the Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 10/86: A Guide to the Design of Cycle Track, with the speed of as low as 60kph. This speed is too low and is only suitable for bicycles, as the reported 85th percentile operating speeds of motorcyclists along the motorcycle lanes of the Federal Highway FT2 during peak hours and non-peak hours are 72kph and 80kph respectively.

Because motorcyclists tend to match with the operating speed of cars (80kph), T. H. Law, et al. (2005) recommend the minimum width of the motorcycle lanes to be increased to at least 3.81m.

However, no such improvement of the lane width has been implemented, and the average remains at only 2m. With such a narrow motorcycle lane, how can SAC Mahamad Akhir claim that the width is sufficient enough for bigger motorcycles?

I would like to ask him if a traffic officer can balance a police Honda ST1300 Pan European along the motorcycle lane at the Federal Highway FT2 at a constant speed of 80kph without slowing down and without falling.

Another clear proof of the fatal design flaws of the motorcycle lane is the sharp corners when approaching a highway interchange.

The corners are too sharp and very dangerous for manoeuvring at speeds of more than 35kph.

Without proper signage, adequate lighting and speed-breakers such as rumble strips, even a kapchai can lose control due to the sudden change of speed at the corners. If riders of the small kapchai can lose control and crash there, how can the police claim that the corners are safe enough for riders of bigger bikes?

SAC Mahamad Akhir, I urge you to do a proper study on the engineering design of the motorcycle lanes before forcing motorcyclists to use them. This is a serious matter because you are putting the lives of the motorists on the line.

Please understand that I am not against the motorcycle lane usage rule. I only want to ensure that all motorcycle lanes are safe enough to be used by motorcyclists.

SQUALL_SHINODA

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