As road deaths rise, where is Miros when we need it most?

 The public is increasingly deaf to grand declarations about road safety: we need to see evidence, which Miros can provide.

Malaysia has no shortage of road-safety announcements. The most recent was from a Cabinet committee on road safety giving a reminder of the target to reduce road deaths by 50% by 2030.

But when the death toll continues to climb, the public is entitled to ask: where is the science, where is the evidence and where is the accountability? And more importantly, where is Miros?

The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research was created by an act of Parliament in 2012 to help the government formulate road-safety policies and programmes based on scientific research and evidence.

Miros was built on a strong intellectual foundation. Many in the motoring industry remember the late professor Radin Omar Radin Soehardi and his team at Universiti Putra Malaysia, who were deeply committed to the science of road safety. Miros subsequently developed into a national centre of expertise and became the home of Asean NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme), helping Malaysia acquire a respected regional role in vehicle safety.

Instead of treating the popular RXZ convoys as a policing problem, why not work with the organisers, who are asking to be heard? (Bernama pic)

Given Malaysia’s high motorcycle population, Miros developed expertise in motorcycle safety. It studied ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) on low-capacity motorcycles up to 150cc, while its Malaysian Motorcycle Assessment Programme, or MyMAP, was created to encourage safer motorcycle design and equipment.

Yet one must ask whether this expertise is being sufficiently heard in today’s national road-safety debate.

In 2022, the government announced plans to make ABS compulsory on motorcycles following Miros research. In 2024, the government announced that new motorcycles of 150cc and above would require ABS starting January 2025, which was strange because the draft stated ABS was required for motorcycles up to 150cc.

Since two-thirds of road deaths are still motorcycle users, most of them riding small capacity motorcycles of up to 150cc, shouldn’t Miros be at the forefront of explaining what has worked, what has not worked and what should be done next?

This is not an argument against government. It is an argument for better government.

Malaysia already has the Malaysia Road Safety Plan 2022–2030, whose target is a 50% reduction in road deaths by 2030, only a short four years away, We should be measuring every new road-safety initiative against that target and questioning announcements that don’t bring any benefit to the people.

There are practical issues crying out for evidence-based solutions.

There should be practical suggestions: shouldn’t motorcycle lanes be widened and graded with good tarmac rather than coloured with slippery paint? Should lane-splitting be prohibited in particularly dangerous circumstances? Should certain highway lanes be managed differently during major motorcycle convoys?

Consider the annual RXZ convoys. Instead of simply treating them as a policing problem, why not work with the organisers who are asking to be heard?

On designated ride days, could the left lanes of the Karak Highway, LPT1 and LPT2 be managed specifically for motorcycles, with organised groups educated about safe following distances and convoy behaviour?

Could rampant lane splitting by some motorcyclists be the highest cause of road crashes due to riders’ behaviours and mixed traffic zones? While lane splitting is banned in most countries, the law is silent in Malaysia, and riders can only be charged with reckless riding. The law should be amended and lane splitting be banned in fast traffic.

These are questions for researchers, not politicians. And that brings me back to Miros.

Its current website says its researchers cover human behaviour, vehicle safety and biomechanics, and road-safety engineering and environment. Its latest material also says Miros continues to support evidence-based policy.

Than let us hear that evidence.

Tell Malaysians what the research says about helmet compliance. It used to be 95%. What’s the level of compliance in 2025 and 2026?

Tell us why motorcycle deaths remain so stubbornly high. Tell us what interventions have reduced deaths. Tell us which proposals have failed. And tell us what should be done next.

The public is increasingly deaf to grand declarations about road safety because we have heard too many of them.

The Miros board comprises two senior police traffic-enforcement officers, the director-general of road transport, senior transport and finance officials, Perkeso’s CEO, an engineer, a media executive and several other members.

If the Miros board is the executive body of the country’s principal road-safety research institute, and its statutory functions include advising the minister on road-safety research and recommending road-safety policies, what exactly has the board advised the government about deaths among motorcyclists as well as heavy commercial vehicle safety?

The bigger question is: are we appointing and empowering the right people, with the right expertise, to give the government the uncomfortable scientific advice it needs?

And another thing: we need road safety professionals, including public health practitioners, in Miros to tell us, rather than popularity-seeking politicians. - FMT

Yamin Vong is on Facebook at yamin.com.my, and can be contacted at yamin.vong@gmail.com.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.