Early this month, theSun reported that the insurance industry has refused to provide coverage for commercial vehicle drivers aged 65 and above as this group is deemed as presenting “high risk” on the roads.

To be fair, such elderly drivers still need to drive for a living and they must be given a chance, because age is just a number in reflection to driving capabilities BUT subject to certain competency and evaluation tests from safety perspective.

According to Finland’s road safety expert Kiskenen Hattaka, driving a commercial vehicle requires higher level of driving competency that includes good behaviour, the ability of driving planning to the right skills to manoeuvre and control the vehicle according to traffic and road conditions. Together with paying strict attention to the traffic environment and processing a vast array of different incoming and potential hazards, commercial vehicle drivers are normally very stressed up by their work.

A large number of studies have indicated that commercial vehicle driving is a high-strain occupation characterised by high demands, low control and low support, leading to a high risk of physical and mental ill-health.

Studies have also shown that a commercial vehicle driver’s mental wellbeing can be compromised, with 13% of the sample of drivers in a study scoring in the range equivalent to hospitalised psychiatric patients, as a consequence of work-related stress!

Like their operators, vehicles that have reached a certain age are also subjected to undergoing an annual test (at least, depending on their respective ages and conditions) to ensure they remain mechanically fit for road use.

Statistics have also shown that mechanical defects had caused just below three percent of road crashes and yet drivers, whose errors and omissions are the main cause of over 95% of road crashes, do not have to prove that they too are fit (enough) for the roads.

In an ideal situation, once someone has passed the initial competency test, the person should never need to prove their safe driving ability again. However, as we get older, wiser, are more experienced and become more safety conscious, over the years our driving standards tend to become corrupted with bad habits and an over-inflated opinion of our own driving competence and our ability to drive consistently safe.

It has been estimated that road user factors are the sole or contributory factors in a great majority of road crashes. Drivers play an important role to align their respective driving activities so that they are in accordance to the road environment situations and the capabilities of their vehicles.

Failure of the part of any of these three elements – road user, vehicle and road environment, will create an incident which may or may not cause injury, death and/or damage to property.

Although age is just a number, the question is at what age do we need to prove that we are fit to drive/ride or otherwise? In most cases (in Malaysia, at least), even after a driver has met with a major accident in which he might escape from being punished by the law, that driver is still not subjected to any requirement to prove his roadworthiness.

The same goes with motorists who were former stroke patients who are back behind the wheel. In Malaysia, no particular tests, assessments, refresher courses or any such rules have been imposed by the authorities, so far, on such motorists.

# The writer is a road safety advocate with 18 years’ experience in transportation and road safety, a chartered member with Chartered Institute of Logistic Transport UK, Diploma in Advanced Driving from Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) UK and currently in the final semester to complete the Master in Occupational Safety and Health Risk Management.

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It was a resounding “No” by some 92% of those polled online by a newspaper and if you are wondering where the other 8% who like the idea came from, your guess is as good as mine, they must be from the Mat Rempit themselves.

In the first place, our already over-worked traffic cops are hard-pressed to handle the Mat Rempit.

And from my travels around the world on assignments as a reporter for over three decades, I can safely say that the Mat Rempit culture is virtually an exclusive Malaysian phenomenon.

I’ve seen more motorcycles on the road in densely populated cities like Jakarta and Hanoi but nothing beats what we can find in Kuala Lumpur, with regular illegal midnight races on some roads despite so many riders already being dealt with under the law.

In Hanoi , for instance, the most striking thing about their motorcyclists is that they are disciplined and comply with the speed limit.

When I asked Vietnamese journalist friends the reason for this, the answer was insightful: “Most of them are the sole breadwinners in the family. They don’t want to get killed on the roads!”

But here, apart from illegal racing, where else on Earth can you see motorcyclists blatantly beating the red lights even in broad daylight.

If we ask our “always in a hurry” motorcyclists why: the answer will be, to borrow the name of a nasi kandar restaurant chain, “line clear.”

Yes, they may think so, but they are missing the point. They might not think much of their own safety but what about other road-users?

And much more importantly, it’s their utter disregard for the law that’s the whole issue.

It’s for this matter that if I talk to foreign diplomats in Kuala Lumpur, many would tell me that their biggest fear of living in the city is not being mugged but to be run down by a motorcyclist while crossing the road.

Mat Rempit culture is an addiction and like all addictions, it’s a very tough nut to crack and the best we can hope for is that there’ll be fewer and fewer of these mostly young boys jumping on the bandwagon.

We have bodies dealing with road safety which don’t exist in most countries like the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), a dedicated Road Safety Department set up in 2005 and a non-governmental organisation like the National Road Safety Council.

Despite all this, we have one of the highest rates of road accidents per capita and it naturally follows one of the highest road deaths in the world.

It boils down to the fact that we have far too many motorcycle deaths that I have alluded to a few times over the past few years in this column and which I have no hesitation to repeat given this proposal to “legalise” Mat Rempit races at certain hours right smack in the city centre.

Every year, over 4,000 motorcyclists and their pillion riders – mostly young Malaysians – lose their lives and they make up over 65% of the total number of road fatalities or some 6,500 on the average.

Of course speed is not the only reason for motorcycle accidents but studies by Miros concluded that if riders keep to a speed limit of 60kph, chances of them getting killed in road crashes can be reduced by as much as 80%. Yet we don’t impose such a speed limit despite such studies.

Studies also show that if there are dedicated motorcycle lanes where the two-wheelers don’t come into contact with other vehicles, road deaths among them can be cut by a massive 83%!

We still do not have dedicated motorcycle lanes along most of our roads and highways. The best example of such lanes are the ones along the Federal Highway from Petaling Jaya to Klang, perhaps the country’s busiest freeway.

While Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor means well with his idea, there’s the real possibility of it getting out of hand thus making it even more difficult for the traffic police to tackle the menace.

In other words, teenagers who are not into Mat Rempit culture would be attracted by a such a race and swell their numbers.
And when they are not in such a “legalised” race, they would race on the roads just to get their “high”.

It might also promote further the Mat Rempit culture when we should go all out to crack down on it like what is being done for other illegal activities.

Also, the small motorcycles, popularly known as kapcais, are not built by the manufacturers to be racing machines.

There’s so much merit and validity in the comments from people who are dead opposed to the proposal and it’s fair to say that the most worried people are the police and the parents who have children using motorcycles and who are in constant fear over their safety.

Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Datuk Johari Ghani said such racing threatened public security and endangered the lives of the public because Mat Rempit were not professional riders.

Besides, insurance companies won’t cover such an activity.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said he would discuss the proposal with the minister.

Let’s us all hope that this proposal won’t see the light of day or, in this case, night.

Source: http://www.thesundaily.my/node/351931

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They indicate that awareness of vehicle safety had worsened since a 2004 study by Universiti Putra Malaysia’s road safety researcher Dr S. Kulanthayan.

The eight-year-old study showed that 27.4% of drivers used at least one child safety seat, compared to just 10% of those observed this time round.

Miros design and instrumentation unit head Muammar Quadaffi Mohd Ariffin said the latest study, which would observe 400 children, focused on the manner they were transported to pre-schools. 

“I found it unbelievable that parents were exposing their children to such danger,” he said, adding that the research team covered nine pre-schools in Kajang since early last month.

Muammar Quadaffi said the team found that only 22 of 131 drivers had their seatbelts on.


Another startling observation was that 23 out of 43 parents left their children in their car for more than two minutes with the engine running.

“They passed their children’s school things to the teachers first before getting their children out of the car,” he said. 

He said the team noticed that 26 of the 36 motorcyclists who dropped their children off did not wear a helmet and only four of the 41 children who sat on the motorcycles wore a helmet. 

He said one possible reason for the casual attitude to safety was the false notion that accidents are unlikely to occur in housing areas where many pre-schools are located.

Police statistics, however, show that passenger casualties in housing areas were among the highest recorded in 2010. 

There were 156 deaths, 209 serious injuries and 302 minor injuries.

Other areas such as industrial/construction sites, bridges and schools all recorded significantly lower deaths and injuries. 

“Many people also think that the airbags in their cars will keep them safe in an accident. 

“Yes, airbags are designed to save lives but only if the occupants are properly restrained,” said Muammar Quadaffi, referring to the wearing of seatbelts. 

He said an airbag typically deploys at 240kph – generating sufficient force to kill or severely injure a person not wearing a seatbelt.

On child safety seats, Muammar Quadaffi said: “Some parents complain that their children will not stop crying when placed in the safety seat. I tell them that at least you can hear them crying.

“Would you rather prefer never to hear them crying again?”

Source: http://www.carsifu.my/news/Malaysians-lax-on-car-safety

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The experts who spoke to theSun, raised grave concerns on whether the government would take responsibility should bodily injury or loss of lives occur during such races.

Their concerns come in the wake of a proposal earlier this week by Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to allow bikers to race in certain parts of the capital city to curb the tendency of “Mat Rempits” who speed in residential and commercial areas.

Universiti Sains Malaysia deputy vice-chancellor Professor Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah described the proposal as risky and a disservice to road safety.

“Malaysia as a country that has committed towards the achievement of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, all initiatives must have safer roads as the aspired outcomes,” he told theSun.

Ahmad Farhan, who was formerly a director-general of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research said significant number of motorcycle crashes are associated with speeding and reckless driving compounded by the fact that motorcycles are small and fast.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre Associate Professor Dr Hussain Hamid said it is best to consult the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on the minimum safety requirements such as attire, helmet and road conditions.

“Failure to comply to any of these may lead to serious injury and death. Will the policy maker who allowed this (racing) take full responsibility for any mishap?” he questioned.

Independent road safety consultant Mohd Najeeb Rosli stressed that the authorities should have promoted a road safety agenda rather than assisting youths to ‘relief their adrenaline’ legally.

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said he wants to meet Tengku Adnan over his recent announcement on street racing.

“I believe he has his reasons to propose it. I want to meet him to discuss it,” Khalid told reporters at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here.

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Malaysian women drivers have been found to be angrier than men behind the wheel.

However, despite their higher le­vels of anger, women drivers suffer fewer crashes and road fatalities.

This was revealed by results of a five-year study undertaken by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).

The survey was to identify the number of agitated drivers, categorised under three groups – high-anger drivers, medium-anger drivers and low-anger drivers.

Miros research fellow and psychologist Karen Goonting said despite their inclination to be angrier, fewer women drivers were involved in accidents because they tend to keep their anger bottled up.

“Men are more prone to act out on their anger and may express it phy­sically, as opposed to women. It may also be due to cultural factors. It is not generally acceptable for Asian women to be outwardly aggressive,” she told The Star.

Goonting said the downside to this was that women suffered more from depression than men as a result of turning their anger inwards.

Another surprising finding of the study was the demographics of where angry drivers were likely to be.

In spite of its scenic beaches and peaceful towns, Terengganu topped the list as the Malaysian state with the peak percentage of high-anger drivers.

The survey, however, did not look into the causes making drivers in Terengganu and the other states angrier, or less angry in some cases.

The state that emerged second in the list was Malacca while Kuala Lumpur was third.

It was speculated that the probable causes for angry drivers in Malacca might be the narrow streets and difficulties in finding parking spots.

The survey did not identify whe­ther the drivers who displayed anger were locals or tourists who throng the historical city during weekends and public holidays.

In the case of Kuala Lumpur, the daily traffic jams and long commutes are the likely causes of more high-anger drivers.

Kedah emerged as the state with the least number of high-anger dri­vers but the reason for this remains unclear.

Perhaps the abundant padi fields have a calming effect on drivers there.

According to the study, 18% of the 13.3 million registered drivers in Malaysia would come under the category of high-anger drivers.

“That’s very high. That means there are 2.4 million extremely angry drivers on our roads, which increases the probability of accidents,” Goonting said.

She said high-anger drivers were more likely to lose control of their vehicles, suffer loss of concentration and display verbal, physical or vehi­cular aggression on the road.

“And with this type of drivers, the anger sparked off is likely to stay with them throughout the rest of the journey,” she said.

Malaysian drivers were also found to be three or four times angrier than drivers in the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Turkey under the study,” she said.

Discourtesy on the road, such as cutting queues, refusing to give way, failing to use indicators before tur­ning or changing lanes and triple parking on roadsides were found to be main causes of fury.

“The second strongest trigger is traffic obstructions, such as construction or repair works along roads. Other factors include rude or hostile gestures, driving too slowly, or getting stopped by the police,” Goonting added.

She hoped that the findings of the study would help Malaysian drivers be more aware about the dangers of driving in an angry state and why they should always keep their cool while on the road.

The survey was also meant as an aid to traffic police so that they could conduct more efficient enforcement in the states with large numbers of high-anger drivers.

The study, conducted between 2009 and last year, measured the anger levels of 5,248 drivers (cars, buses and other vehicles, except motorcycles) in more than 103 districts throughout the country.

The drivers were asked to rate how angry they felt on a scale of from one to five (five being very angry, one being not angry) on matters ranging from illegal driving to hostile gestures.

High-anger drivers are defined as those who get angry about 642 times over an average of 300 driving days a year – two to three times higher than low-anger drivers.

Low-anger drivers are those who get angry about 264 times. They are angry less frequently and don’t keep anger as long as others.

Source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/study-women-drivers-are-angrier-than-men/

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The deaths were the result of hit-and-run accidents, jaywalking, crossing busy roads and dangerous driving, among others.

On average, 562 pedestrians are killed annually mostly in urban areas in the past three years, according to police statistics.

Karen Goonting, who heads the human factors and accident costing unit at the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, highlighted other police statistics which showed that 40% of pedestrian casualties were children, with at least 40% of them killed or severely injured.

Most of the victims were aged six to 10, she said.

Pedestrians aged 66 to 70 years made up the highest number of fatalities, according to the statistics.

While pedestrian deaths only represented less than 10% of the total of road accident fatalities each year, the number recorded was a cause for concern.

Federal traffic chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Abd Aziz Yusof said pedestrians ranked third in road fatalities, after motorists and motorcyclists.

“That’s quite a high number. Measures to reduce this must be taken as soon as possible,” he said.

SAC Aziz said pedestrians were easily one of the most vulnerable people on the road, so they must take extra precautions and remain vigilant at all times.

He advised pedestrians to always use pedestrian pathways and crossings.

Goonting agreed. “More than 70% of pedestrian casualties happened because people did not use the facilities provided or they crossed roads at the wrong places,” she said.

SAC Aziz called on the local authorities to have more facilities for pedestrians, especially sidewalks. “It would be good for everyone if more of such facilities are built,” he said.

According to him, motorists too have a role to play in ensuring the safety of pedestrians.

“They should be mindful of pedestrians and not bully them,” he said. “They should be more considerate towards pedestrians.

“Mutual respect between the two groups is vital towards reducing the number of pedestrian deaths.”

Drivers and motorcyclists are required by law to provide right of way to pedestrians. They can be fined up to RM300 per offence, under Section 75 of the Road Transport Act.

The Act subjects pedestrians to the same penalty if they cross a road within 100m of an overhead bridge or zebra crossing, or if they are caught jaywalking.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/02/27/Many-pedestrians-killed-in-traffic-accidents-each-year-statistics-show/

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“I have always been passionate about road safety. Before we set up the company, we had been actively involved in driving and promoting essential road safety consultancy and training for drivers and trainers for more than 15 years.

Our stratergic fundamental concept in delivering road safety consultancy and driver’s training is based on the perventive, safe and defensive approach,” said Najeeb, who is currently holding  position of consultant in the company.

For a number of years, Najeeb said, many countries had adopted a basic test of driving compentency in which the required pass standards or competency tended to focus on safety technics for managing vehicle cotrol and making safe and controlled progress. Once the driver had passed the initial competency test, the never needed to prove their driving ability again. Yet, research had found that almost half of the experienced drivers would not pass basic safety test if they had to retake it today.

95 per cent of road accidents are due to driver errors

“Vehicles are subjected to an annual test to ensure that they remain mechanically fit for use on road. Statistics show that mechanical defects cause fewer than 3 per cent of road crashes. While drivers’ errors and omissions are the main cause of more than 95 per cent of road accidents, drivers do not have to prove that they are fit for the roads. All road users are exposed to the same degree of risk but those driving for a living are almost 3 times as likely to have a crash than the odinary drivers. Based on the experience in the UK and Europe, the drivers who have undergone some post-test driver”.

Source: Truck & Bus! (Issue 2014/3)

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“I am very scared of driving on Malaysian roads because I cannot predict the reaction of the other drivers as they do not follow the road rules,” said Mohd Najeeb Rosli, an accredited defensive and advanced driving instructor.He said aggressive driving resulted from drivers’ inability to control their attitude.“In Malaysia, much of our driver education focuses on teaching them skills but not attitude. Then, they drive in a display of stupid behaviour,” he said.

Mohd Najeeb, a qualified instructor in Britain, said early driving education (from the pre-school level) was essential in fostering responsible driving.

He stressed that driving instructors played a critical role in teaching the new syllabus expected to start sometime this year based on defensive driving principles.

He pointed out that the difference between defensive and advanced driving was that the latter was about learning advanced technical driving skills.

He added that employing defensive driving on the road was essential in reducing the number of accidents and promoting good driving habits.

Defensive driving was all about taking in surrounding information through observation, he said.

According to the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety Research, making an unconscious habit of employing basic defensive driving techniques could offer motorists as much as 99% protection.

These include looking 15 to 20 seconds ahead of the vehicles in front, not just the one directly in front, and keeping your eyes moving (not concentrating on a particular object for more than a second or peripheral vision narrows).

Peripheral vision also serves as an early warning system.

Motorists should also check their mirrors every five to eight seconds and know their vehicle’s blind spots.

Psychologist Dr Anasuya Jegathesan said it was important that people who tend to get angry a lot identify the true source of their anger and deal with it.

“Find a healthy outlet for your anger.

“For example, if you always get angry with your boss before leaving the office, you might exhibit an aggressive driving behaviour. Maybe you could go to the gym first instead of driving home straight from work,” she said.

Dr Anasuya said it was not surprising that statistics showed men displayed higher aggressive driving behaviour on the road.

“Men tend to be more physically aggressive while women tend to express frustration through non-physical means,” she said.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2012/02/27/Refresher-courses-can-benefit-experienced-drivers/

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