Kulanthayan KC Mani from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) said countries with fewer motorcycle users have lower accident rates, but Malaysia has to accept the fact that motorcycles are an important component of its transport system.

“One way to reduce crashes is by setting up motorcycle lanes because they can reduce accident rates by 40%. It is a proven intervention,” Kulanthayan said after his inaugural lecture series “Children’s Safety On The Road” at UPM today.

He said Malaysia was the first country to introduce motorcycle lanes and this should be expanded.

“We have introduced this to the global community, and the next step is to scale it up. If the government can increase the number of motorcycle lanes in places where they are needed, it would be an effective method in reducing crash rates,” he said.

Kulanthayan also urged the government to maintain the motorcycle lanes properly because riders are forced back into the main traffic flow if they are not.

“Maintain well with what you have and, at the same time, add up new ones. That’s one way to move forward,” he said.

He pointed out that road crashes leaped to 545,588 in 2022 compared to the previous year’s 370,286.

According to transport ministry statistics, he said, more than 6,000 people died in crashes last year, including about 1,000 children.

Kulanthayan said his research found that the reasons for such a high number of crashes is the number of private vehicles on the road compared to public transport.

“Countries that have heavily invested in public transport, especially in railway services, have much lower accident rates,” he added.