He said the current minimum age for obtaining a driving licence in Malaysia is 16 for motorcycles and 17 for cars.
“We want the people, especially parents, to give their views on whether there is a need to review the minimum age to get a driving licence,” he said.
“They can share their views via our social media platforms, namely those of the Road Safety Department (RSD), the ministry or even my Facebook page,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the RSD office here today, Loke said statistics showed that 7,152 road fatalities were reported in 2016.
They included 1,161 deaths of those aged between 16 and 20, and about 1,000 others aged between 21 and 25.
“The biggest contributor to the accident rate is motorcyclists and pillion riders, which made up about 60%,” he said.
“This is very worrying, which is why we have to talk about it. We know this is not an easy decision to make,” he said.
Loke, however, acknowledged that many young people in rural areas, especially those who are still in secondary schools, have the need to use motorcycles to school due to lack of public transport.
In order to raise the level of awareness among road users, especially among the youths, he proposed advocacy programmes to be implemented to attract their attention.
“We hope the youths can give good ideas and suggestions to the RSD via our social media or submit a proposal on the best way to implement the programmes at school and state level,” he said.
“We do not want the programmes to be held in schools without the youngsters showing interest,” said Loke.
While acknowledging that the road safety awareness programmes required RM1 million annually, Loke also expressed hope that insurance companies as well as vehicle companies would take part in corporate social responsibility programmes together with the RSD by making short films to raise awareness of road safety.
He said the ministry would also continue looking for out-of-the-box approaches so that the awareness messages can be communicated to the people.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/02/20/ability-not-age-matters-for-senior-citizen-drivers/