“Obtaining a (driving) licence is not a right. It is a privilege. Even with a licence, it does not mean you are competent in every vehicle. If the environment or the type of car changes, you need to adjust as well.”
So said Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) chairman Wong Shaw Voon to The Star, adding that Malaysian drivers should be aware that their vehicles can become killing machines on the road if not operated correctly.
Wong also said that MIROS conducts reviews periodically of improvements to the driver training curriculum. “We have to balance the desired outcome with the costs that will inevitably arise from additional training time or expanded course content. We hope that over time, technology can help make improvements more affordable,” he said, adding that technology could also help curb corrupt practices within the system.
“We can only work to minimise such behaviour. Some people will try to take advantage of the system but technology can help reduce such instances,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to transport safety expert Law Teik Hua of Universiti Putra Malaysia, the driving curriculum focuses heavily on technical manoeuvres rather than preparing learners for complex traffic situations.
“Learners are taught skills such as parallel parking, hill starts and reversing, but these alone are not enough to cope with real-world situations such as encountering speeding traffic or motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic,” he told The Star, adding that the curriculum should also focus on behavioural awareness and risk management.
“Instructors should help learners understand risk perception, defensive driving, night driving, driving in heavy rain and decision-making under pressure,” he said, adding that fatigue, mobile phone distraction, judging speed and emotional control behind the wheel should also be taught.
“Video-based case studies, driving simulators and AI-assisted feedback systems can help learners better understand dangerous situations before they encounter them on the road,” Law said, adding that a recent road transport department (JPJ) announcement focused largely on operational aspects of driving institutes, such as allowing multi-storey facilities and reducing land requirements.
“As such, there is still a need for a comprehensive review of the learning curriculum itself,” he said, citing Sweden, Australia and the UK, where emphasis is given to hazard perception tests while also gradually exposing new drivers to challenging driving environments.
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You can be very good and follow the JPJ learner’s manual to the letter, all you need is one bodoh moto to come by weaving in/out like a lunatic causing you to wear off course to avoid colliding with scum but you’ll go to jail if you so much as touch the moto filth.
JPJ should revamp the draconian and dated test for motorbike riding license. One of the nonsense is learners still and must using hand signals that is only suits scooters era in 50’s which were yet to be equipped with turn indicators.
Another rule of the test is leaners must park their bike in a double stands position at the end of the test. If they forget to do just that by parked in a single stand position instead they will fail the test. I was one of the learners who got failed by a JPJ tester some 30 years ago because of the rule.
People question is, in the real world why JPJ or JSPT never issues ticket to bikers parking their bikes in a single stands if parking in double stands is mandatory and very important that bikers must obey? Is double stands park makes bikers safer? Or will it prevent bikes from thieves?
Those example of the comedian acts of the riding test are one of the reason why people especially youngsters won’t go to driving school to learn and sit the test to obtain B2/B1/B license.
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So no wonder SG gets malaysia petrol. Because they also have privilege, not right.
you can ask the former govt that signed the agreement, why they agreed to give malaysian petrol, untreated water, and white rock island to singapore.
Driver’s license, passport, property ownership, education is right la as a citizen it is not a privilege determined by minister, officials, or man behind the desk to dish out at his whim and fancy
Right = What Malaysian LAW state. Under LAW all Malaysians who fulfil the REQUIREMENTS for holding a driving License SHALL BE GIVEN the Licenses . That is by DEFINITION a RIGHT under the LAW
Privilege = What is GIVEN by an Authority without any BASIS or REASON or Under LAW. And it CAN be WITHDRAWN by the authority at any TIME without due REASON given.
If what he says is TRUE ……WHY HAVE ANY LAW ???
Why is
In the past up til recently you can have super privilege if you paid guaranteed passed driving licence test package KEK
That actually depends when one realised that how many underserving people fly license undertable then yeah it is a special privilege to continue leaching.
keep asking cars to be defensive and tip-toe around motorcyclists? riders are becoming more and more daring every passing day, because cars are too defensive around them. Riders getting entitled and behaving like road bullies now. maybe the minister should tell riders to ride defensively and not like hooligans on the road. No more zig-zag between cars like lunatics.