By Rosli Khan
A Streetcar Named Desire was a famous 1951 play by Tennessee Williams, later adapted into a popular movie by Elia Kazan, and starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando.
My Malaysian adaptation of the movie title, however, holds much less appeal. It is intended to draw attention to a recent police announcement that an average of 12 motorcyclists die on our roads daily.
That is 4,380 deaths too many in a year.
For many decades now, countless youngsters in our country have desired a motorbike, even while still in school, and despite not having the necessary driving licence.
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In many cases, this desire has been supported by parents who not only allow their children to ride family-owned bikes but also encourage them to own one.
Motorbikes are arguably the most attractive mode of mobility in Malaysia today. They are easy to purchase, easy to manoeuvre and provide a quick way to weave through traffic, especially in the massive gridlocks we see in the Klang Valley.
Free rein
For small bikes (those 150cc and below) everything seems to be free or almost free – the road tax is only RM2 – street parking is free, and there’s free use of toll highways.
With the government continuing to subsidise fuel, motorcyclists only need to spend a few ringgit on petrol, which is cheap anyway.
Anyone new to Malaysia would be tempted to buy a motorbike. It allows extensive travel at very little expense, but with many benefits.
As a motorcyclist, you are practically king of the road. No one expects you to observe traffic rules and regulations. The Road Transport Act 1987? Never heard of it. What is sistem kesalahan jalanraya or Kejara – the demerit points system for traffic violations? Motorcyclists just don’t know and don’t care.
Red lights
Are motorcyclists expected to stop just because the lights at traffic junctions turn red? No. They ride as they please. Motorcyclists are known to break traffic rules with impunity.
They even ride against the traffic flow, often going in the wrong direction up a one-way street or on the wrong side of a two-way road. Street signs and directions, it seems, are for cars and other vehicles, not motorcyclists.
Nobody will penalise or take action against us, not even the traffic police, motorcyclists say.
Free rides on highways
Malaysia is by far the most tolerant country when it comes to motorbikes. In Indonesia, Thailand, India and many other Asian countries, highways are reserved for vehicles with four or more wheels. But Malaysia will have none of that.
Not only can motorcyclists ride on all the highways here without charge, but on some highways like the Federal Highway, Kesas and the Guthrie Corridor, where dedicated motorcycle lanes are built to separate them from other vehicles, motorcyclists can choose to ignore them and ride alongside everyone else.
There are no penalties for not using dedicated motorbike lanes, even though they are considered safer. Why be safe when motorcyclists can be sorry? It’s more fun taking risks, riding with other vehicles, and tormenting other motorists with zigzag manoeuvres.
Size isn’t everything. Motorcycles may be small, but every other vehicle on the road is scared to death of them. In fact, people should give motorcyclists more credit. Their very presence makes drivers of other vehicles better behaved -driving slower and more cautiously.
Motorcyclists on Malaysian roads are a superior breed. Helmets are optional, as are front and rear lights. They can also ride wherever they like – on any lane of a multi-lane, the emergency lane or even the road shoulder. Even off-road, if there is an opening.
Motorcyclists are also a creative bunch, carving out their own openings to enter or exit roads – all in the name of a quicker journey. Who dares to stop them?
Free parking
They also have the right to park anywhere without charge. Forget designated parking spaces. Motorcyclists can park in spaces set aside for cars, on pedestrian pavements, in front of shops, on five-foot ways and so on. Anywhere.
There are now more than 20 million motorcycles in the country. That’s a large electorate. So, politically speaking, the motorcycle lobby is also very strong.
Let’s face it – politicians need motorcyclists to stay in power! Who else will form their convoys, carry party flags, create noise in the streets to attract attention, and accompany them on campaigns?
Ultimately, motorcyclists help form the government of the day, which is probably why they are so well-treated and feared.
Road racing
Motorcyclists have been racing on roads for years. Nobody has been able to stop them. They may be called names, like Mat Rempit, but that won’t bother them. In fact, many take pride in being part of such an exalted bunch.
And to justify that name, they are allowed to remove the exhaust mufflers on their bikes so that their machines sound better, louder, high-pitched and cooler.
Ah! What benefits motorcycles bring. Look at these statistics:
- In 2020, as many as 565,767 motorcycles were sold in this country
- Sales jumped by another 8% to a new high of 614,935 bikes the following year
- In 2022, another 720,004 bikes were sold
No cash sales
The strange thing, however, is that nobody ever buys a brand-new motorcycle with cash. Purchases are made via a financing scheme, with interest charged, and payments made in monthly instalments.
That makes the final sum paid for a motorcycle much higher than its retail price. Someone is making huge profits from this through a microcredit scheme.
One would have thought that by now, the central bank, as the regulator which oversees such schemes through its microcredit department, would be aware of this lawful but awful scheme.
In Tennessee Williams’ play, the tragedy unfolds as characters like Blanche Dubois cling to delusions and desires that ultimately destroy them.
Unfortunately, the tragic obsession with motorbikes among Malaysian youth, encouraged by the silent promotion of this microcredit scheme, gives rise to similar destructive desires.
The sad reality is that left unchecked, and fuelled by illusions of grandeur and the thrill of speed, these desires only lead to suffering and death. – Free Malaysia Today
Rosli Khan, a traffic planning consultant, has a masters in transport planning and a PhD in transport economics from Cranfield University in England.
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Much truth clearly and couragously penned by Rosli Khan. Add to it the fact that bike lanes in addition to be sparringly carved out are also death traps. Try riding on these lanes, say all along the Federal Highway to Shah Alam and you will get a first hand schooling on the dangers strewn all along.