Transport planner Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said the government was not serious about the road safety agenda and showed a lack of concern towards motorcycle users by refusing to build more infrastructure for the two-wheelers.
“We have lost a lot of lives due to motorcycle accidents and nothing has been done. Our own government has not considered building motorcycle lanes, for example,” he said during an interview on Astro Awani’s “Consider This” talk show with hosts Melisa Melina Idris and Sharaad Kuttan on Nov 11.
Speaking on the topic “Navigating Road Safety”, Melisa asked: “I am wondering how much of that burden falls on the government. What is the government’s role in ensuring road safety, be it either (road) infrastructure design or through maintenance?”
Wan Agyl, who was group operation head of policy and planning at the now-defunct Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), replied saying it was all a matter of the government’s commitment.
“The most important part of this road safety issue is the government’s commitment. One thing that is very clear is that the government really lacks commitment to resolve the road safety issue,” he said.
He criticised the lack of any allocation for road safety under the 12th Malaysia Plan as well as in Budget 2022.
“As you can see in the recent budget announcement, nothing was allocated for road safety issues, especially on building infrastructure for motorcyclists,” he said.
He added that this was despite recent data showing that seven out of 10 fatal accidents involved motorcyclists.
“The latest statistics are a huge calling to the government,” he said, urging the relevant authorities to focus on the safety of motorcycle users in the country.
“While we are focusing on education and health, we forgot that there is a need for us to address this issue before it becomes really worse.
“We have forgotten about motorcyclists in this country. And their numbers are growing every year,” he said, adding that it was difficult to understand why the government was simply not concerned or committed to resolve road safety issues, especially those involving motorcyclists.
Meanwhile, this week, the Alliance for Safe Community (IKS) also expressed disappointment at the zero allocation for road safety by the government.
“There has been absolutely no political will to commit financial allocations to make available motorcycle lanes, which if implemented, could save thousands of lives, mostly of young Malaysians,” IKS chairman Lee Lam Thye said.
According to Wan Agyl, Malaysia has responded adequately in the past with the construction of a separate motorcycle lane.
“But the problem is, we built it and then we forgot to extend it. Because every year, we build more roads but we forget to build more motorcycle lanes,” he said.
According to official figures by Bukit Aman’s Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department, between 2001 and August 2021, a total of 79,916 motorcycle users were killed in Malaysia.
On Oct 8, FMT published a report citing the Federal traffic police’s recent statistics showing that motorcycle users accounted for 70.2% of the fatalities up to August this year.
The statistics suggest that Malaysia is edging closer to replacing Thailand as the world’s deadliest nation for motorcycles and the bikers in Malaysia are hitting an all-time high in the ratio against the overall death rate.
Last month, at the launch of the WHO Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 for the Malaysia chapter, the head of mission and WHO representative in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, Dr Jacqueline Lo Ying-Ru urged Malaysia to address the road safety issues since Malaysia accounted for the third highest road traffic death rate in the Western Pacific region.
Lo also stated that road traffic injury accounts for 14% of deaths among children aged five to 14 years in Malaysia, “making it the leading cause of child mortality in the country.”