Continuation to my earlier post ‘No motorcycles on highways’.

In theSun today: “Many people support banning superbikes on highways,” Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday. “I have received many calls of support (for the ban) … they support because superbikes take up a lot of the road.”

So.. questions:

  1. How many is many? It’s so subjective that I can easily say I have many fingers on one of my hands.
  2. Take up a lot of the road??? Okay, this strikes me as really odd. I’m imagining a superbike right now in my mind. Next to it there’s a Kancil, a Waja, a van, a lorry and an express bus. Oh yes indeed.. a superbike definitely takes a lot of the road. How stupid of me not to see that before.

No, really.. let’s think about it. What do you really get by banning the superbikes from the highways? Those bikes off the highways, of course. And outcries from the superbikes associations. Other than those, probably deaths for the bikers. Odd? Think of the federal roads. Do you think they are safe for these types of bikes? Heck, they are not even safe for cars. Forcing them off the highways won’t make things better, believe me.

What’s causing this ire, anyway? Certainly not just speeding. Concern for road safety? Yes, of course.. what else could it be. But I personally think it’s because those bikes and their smaller cousins, the kapcais, do not have to pay toll for using the highways. If that is the case, then simply impose toll on them. And to make life harder, make sure the charges are the same as cars. As stressed by the superbikes associations, their members are professionals, with high profile jobs and such. I’m sure they can easily afford the toll charges. If nothing else, it will definitely force a lot of these motorcyclists to use the Federal roads.

Of all the causes for road accidents, it is my opinion that the no. 1 contributor is really the attitude of the drivers. Not speed, or road condition, or whatever. People can drive fast and still be safe. It’s because of those reckless, foolish, selfish drivers that people got killed. Education is one solution. Although it’s probably useless since those people have really thick skulls. Enforcement? Do the authorities have enough manpower to cover the whole stretch of roads in this country? I don’t think so. In the end, it really comes down to the drivers themselves.

So drive smart. You will definitely be safe.

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