MMV ban exemption for disabled doesn't solve problem - activist

 

Putrajaya’s decision to allow persons with disabilities to use their personal mobility aids (PMA) on public roads was welcomed but does not address the absence of barrier-free environment policies.

Disabled rights activist V Murugesan said persons with disabilities who require PMA to move around should not have to share roads with motor vehicles in the first place.

A correct approach, said Murugesan, was for Putrajaya to assemble all the relevant ministries to formulate policies that would create a barrier-free environment.

“The actual problem has to do with our attitude towards building infrastructure that always comes with mobility barriers.

“The only way to solve this problem is for the ministries of transport, housing, local governments and all the menteri besar in the country to sit down and plan.

“In other countries, wheelchair users and cyclists do not have to share roads with motor vehicles. Sometimes their lanes are as big as the ones used for cars.

“This is how we should move forward for town planning,” he told Malaysiakini.

Under the Road Traffic (Prohibition of use of certain micro-mobility vehicles) Rules 2021, which came into effect on Dec 17 last year, electric powered wheelchairs or other mobility devices required by persons with disabilities or the elderly, would be banned from the roads.

This poses problems for those who use such devices to cross the roads or travel along the road when alternatives such as footpaths are not available.

A violation of the rules will result in a RM300 fine. At the time of writing, the clause “the design of the vehicle is built for the use of individuals with movement problems or disabilities” has not been removed.

Murugesan said the exemption offered by Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong was only a piecemeal solution that was the result of protests from persons with disabilities.

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong meeting with disabled groups

“Now they are saying that people with disabilities can use the roads, but does it mean that our lives are safer?

“Sharing the roads with motor vehicles just to get to work or the hospital means risking our lives on a daily basis.

“We need a proper solution, which is policies to create barrier-free environments,” he said. - Mkini