Former Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) official Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said he was in “full support” of the proposal, as extending the validity period would reduce the hassle of renewing driving licences.

“However, it is important for the government to ensure compliance matters are addressed, such as fitness for driving, and enforcement of the law,” he told FMT.

Wan Agyl said a potential pitfall was how people’s physiological and physical condition might change as they age, affecting their ability to drive safely.

“Extended driving licence terms may encourage those who are no longer able to drive to continue doing so, thus increasing the risk of accidents and injury,” he said.

In 2021, police revealed that 17% of accidents involving road deaths were caused by older citizens.

However, he said the issue might be solved with the right framework in place, such as imposing processes to test the fitness of older drivers.

He cited the UK, where driving licences for those aged 17 to 69 are valid for 10 years. After that, licences may only be renewed every three years with strict driving ability assessments.

He also gave the examples of New York state in the US, which imposes an eight-year validity period, and New South Wales in Australia, where the maximum is 10 years.

Wan Agyl said another possible downside of a longer validity period was that those who had accumulated a large number of traffic summonses might still be allowed to drive.

However, he said the government would be able to tackle this problem with technological support and strong law enforcement, including collecting summonses yearly and without discounts.

On Wednesday, transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the government was considering extending the validity of driving licences to 10 years from the current maximum of five years.

Replying to points raised in the Dewan Rakyat, Loke said transport ministry officers had been instructed to study the feasibility of this proposal.

He said his ministry was also considering offering discounts to those who renewed their licences for 10 years in a move to encourage the public to renew them for longer periods.

Transport consultant Rosli Azad Khan welcomed the proposal, but said the government should also consider reducing the renewal fees to as low as possible, if not making it free.

Currently, renewals cost RM30 for each year.

“In the UK, there is no charge for driving licence renewals for those aged 70 and above, but candidates have to go through a stringent testing process,” said Rosli, adding that those under 70 only need to pay £14 for every 10 years.

He said Malaysia should follow suit and impose stricter requirements, such as penalising those caught driving without a valid licence, and imposing strict conditions on learner drivers.

For instance, he said, learners should fulfil 30 hours of on-road lessons with their driving schools instead of the current requirement of 16 hours to sit for a driving test.

Rosli said the road transport department should impose a rule that learners must score full marks (100%) in their road safety theory tests. Currently, the passing mark is 84%.

The age limit for motorcyclists should also be increased from 16 to 18, he said.