Azman Ujang, chairman of the Bernama news agency made the proposal at a conference of toll highway concessionaires today. He said he had observed that emergency lanes are unused most of the time, and motorcyclists should be allowed to use the lane for the sake of their safety.

He also said that laws should be enacted to restrict motorcyclists to the left lane of highways and at lower speed limits.

“(An average of) 4,000 motorcyclists die in road accidents in Malaysia every year and this should be treated as a national issue that has to be attended to seriously,” he said.

Azman said small motorcycles are a common transport used by an estimated 15 million road users, and should not be banned from using the highways.

He said congestion that occur especially during festive or holiday seasons on highways close to rest and recreational (RnR) areas can be reduced if the road users plan ahead their long trips.

“One of the reasons why the (traffic) jams become worse during peak hours is because a lot of people stop either because they want to eat or to ease themselves,” he said.