According to a research in 2012, more than 50 per cent of road fatalities in the country involves motorcyclists.

Of the overall fatalities involving motorcyclists, 22.5 per cent involved those between the age of 16 and 20.

A more recent research in 2017 shows that these trends have not changed in recent times.

In fact, the percentage of fatality among motorcyclists has increased to 60 per cent and a whopping 46 per cent of the deaths involved those below the age of 25.

New approach to dealing with the problem

In an effort to minimise accidents involving young motorcyclists, the Malaysian police has proposed to only allow those between the age of 16 and 20 to ride motorbikes below 70cc.

A Free Malaysia Today report quoted Bukit Aman Traffic Investigations and Enforcement chief assistant director Supt Bakri Zainal Abidin suggesting a new license category specifically for teenagers where they are only allowed to ride small engine capacity or low-powered electric motorcycles.

"Every year without fail, motorcyclists in the 16 to 20 age category record the most deaths for all vehicle types and there has been hardly any substantial reduction over the years," he reportedly said.

Bakri said that in light of the difficulties the police face in dealing with "rempits" who ride "kapcai" bikes, this move was necessary.

“It is a powerful machine to begin with. I give you the example of a popular model among youth, the 150cc ‘Y Suku’ (Yamaha Y15ZR) model. This 'kapcai' is capable of reaching speeds of up to 160kph.

“From the many Ops conducted by traffic police nationwide, we found many types of 'kapcai' are dangerous for the riders and other road users. And “Y Suku” is only one example,” Bakri explained.

However, JPJ director-general Datuk Zailani Hashim said no decision has been made regarding the proposal so far.

Any decision regarding the proposal will be made after discussions with the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety Research and the Public Works Department, he said.