Improve Motorcycle Lane Design and Upkeep To Lower Accidents - Experts

Works Ministry Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi recently announced the government's plan to incorporate motorcycle lanes into new highways to enhance motorcycle safety. While the proposal has garnered support from experts, they emphasize the importance of designing these lanes to allow for higher usage.
Karen Goonting, a road safety consultant, asserted that the Federal Highway's existing motorcycle lanes are inadequate, measuring approximately 2 meters in width, which deviates from the 3.81 meters recommended in a 2025 study to ensure safe overtaking for motorcyclists exceeding standard speeds.


“The average motorcycle typically travels at speeds between 72 kph and 80kph. The current 2m lanes are not conducive to safe overtaking, especially for larger motorcycles,” she says in a FMT report.
Goonting stated that extending the use of dedicated motorbike lanes will lower the frequency of accidents involving motorcyclists, citing statistics from studies conducted in 1994 and 1995 that showed the accident rate on the Federal Highway had decreased by between 25% and 34%.
“This removes motorcycles from the larger traffic flow of heavy commercial and private vehicles,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Law Teik Hua, a road safety expert at Universiti Putra Malaysia, emphasized that motorcycle lanes must be safe and well-maintained. He cautioned that riders will avoid these lanes if they perceive them to be more dangerous than main roads.

“Some riders have reported issues such as sharp corners, narrow lanes, and unexpected obstacles like debris, wires, potholes, and oil spills on existing dedicated lanes. Others have experienced safety threats like robbery or ambushes, especially in isolated stretches or underpasses,” he says.


Law also underlined the significance of educating and interacting with motorcycle riders to educate them of the safety advantages of these lanes in addition to the authorities' ongoing enforcement of them to promote the use of designated motorcycle lanes. Source: FMT.