MALAYSIA has a road safety crisis. No minute passes without there being an accident. Add them all up for a year, and you get nothing less than 400,000.
It has been so since the 414,421 accidents recorded in 2010, according to the Transport Ministry's website. Except for 2014 and last year, it has been an up and up story. It peaked at 567,516 in 2019.
Last year, it was still above the half a million mark at 545,630. Road fatalities numbers are, however, on the slide after having peaked at 7,152 in 2016, but still above the 6,000 mark. Of the fatalities — one every 90 minutes — 60 per cent involved motorcyclists.
Eight motorcyclists or pillion riders die every day. The reason is not hard to find. Daredevil motorcyclists are taking to the roads like they are in a drag race. To make the menace worse, in the last few years, p-hailing riders have joined the daredevils in their race to notch up as many deliveries as possible.
Like lorries, they race past red traffic lights, against and across traffic. There is just no room for cars to manoeuvre. Turn right, left, move forward or reverse, the daredevils are there. To them, every way is their right of way.
Little wonder there is an accident every minute. This behaviour must change. There are two ways to bring about their behaviour changes. Get the daredevils off the roads. This will be cruel. A better solution is to get them onto a motorcycle lane.
There is less chance to be a menace there. True, there are such lanes in certain parts of the country, but these are for a short distance, after which the bikers are forced onto the fast lane.
True, too, some bikers just refuse to use them where they are available. Such riders should have their licences revoked. There is no cruelty here.
The brutal truth is there are just too many vehicles on Malaysian roads. For every Malaysian, there is a car and more. Of the registered vehicles, cars and bikes were almost equal at 47 and 46 per cent. Goods vehicles, taxis and buses make up the rest.
Many miss a worrying trend set in 2021. A million vehicles are being brought onto the road every year. There are just not enough roads for all the wheels. Malaysia must get as many vehicles as possible off the roads to not only ease congestion but also reduce accidents and fatalities.
The Transport Ministry has lots of work to do to get people on public transport. Previously only buses didn't arrive on time, but now trains have joined them. This is no way to get people away from private vehicles. Is this why only the poor who can't afford to buy cars take public transport? We must make our public transport safe and efficient for all.
We can begin by learning who to license as public transport operators and who not to. Former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Gustavo Petro, may not have had Malaysia in mind when he said: "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars.
It's where the rich use public transportation." But our policymakers in Malaysia must have his quote in mind. More trains and buses equals less bikes and cars.