Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, who made the proposal, said he has observed that emergency lanes are about 90 per cent underutilised most of the time and that motorcyclists should be allowed to use it for safety purposes.
He also said that laws should be enacted to restrict such motorcyclists to the left lane of highways and to reduce their 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 when presenting a paper on ‘Towards Improving Users Satisfaction – Public Acceptance on Tolled Highways in Media Perspective’.
The paper was presented at the Highway Concession Conference 2019 held at a leading hotel in Teluk Kumbar near here.
He said kapcai riders and pillions were the most vulnerable to fatal crashes on the highways.
Azman said that as the chairman of Bernama, he is willing to take up the task to lead the various communication platforms that the agency has to promote the safety of motorcyclists in the effort to reduce road accidents.
He said congestions 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.
To overcome this, he suggested that the RnR bays be closed during the peak hours in the festive seasons especially Hari Raya.
“(Highway concessionaire) PLUS (Expressways Bhd) can make announcements advising highway users to take their meals or ease themselves before starting their journey,” he added.– BERNAMA