You’ve driven past it a thousand times. You’ve even slowed down to have a look at a commotion that frequently occurs there. You probably passed by a corpse today without even knowing it. Do I have your attention now? It’s been around for almost as long as the Federal Highway that you probably drove on this morning, a mere 20m from you… I’m referring to the motorcycle lane that ‘cocoons’ the Federal Highway on both sides of course; what I like to refer to as the ‘daily death trap’.
In the past year or so, despite having three cars at home in my name (and one more on the way), I’ve taken to daily commuting on a motorcycle in a big way. I even wrote something about this sometime ago. Since then, I’ve become intimately acquainted with the aforementioned ‘motorcycle lane’ on a daily basis, since it tries to kill me everyday.
Every once in a while, it makes the news. A few months ago there was a massive clean-up operation of the motorcycle lane, when bikers began complaining about frequent punctures. The clean-up uncovered something very sinister. Hundreds, if not thousands of NAILS were discovered, strewn all along the motorcycle lane. No culprits were ever found or convicted, but many believed it to be more than just the work of vandals or juveniles with too much time on their hands.
The problem facing the motorcycle lane is one that’s also shared by those who drive cars; the numbers using them are growing rapidly, but the physical size of the area being traversed isn’t. The only problem is, bikes have it a lot worse because the area used for the motorcycle lane is a lot smaller and at the fringe of the highway, which is almost always being worked on. Not only that, but all the equipment that’s used to do whatever highway work that’s being done is usually dumped at the fringe of the highway, near the bike lane, and this leads to all sorts of other peripheral problems, the worst of course being soil run-off, debris and oil.
In a car if you hit a patch of soil, debris or oil, you dirty your car; do the same on a bike, and you may crash. And the bike lane is absolutely littered with debris making it a veritable minefield just waiting to catch out an unsuspecting biker. In addition, the actual surface of the bike lane also leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not in the best shape, and the reason why is because the bike lanes are being constructed the same way as the roads for cars, and that simply does not work. The reason why is because a bike reacts to the surface very differently from a car, for example, ruts.
In a car, a rut in the road – either the result of wear and tear or a shoddy pot-hole patch up job – is an inconvenience, it jars you a little, makes you cuss a bit perhaps; but on a bike, hitting a rut at a certain angle can cause the rider to lose control. Metal manhole covers are another issue. They’re not a problem in a car, but on a bike and in the rain, they become as slippery as ice. Hit a manhole cover in the wet and in mid-corner on a bike, and chances are it’s not going to be pretty. And yes, these are just some of the dangers to be found on the bike lane.
The bike lane also suffers the ignominy of being the recipient of accident damage. Following a crash between vehicles on the highway, or single-vehicle crashes against the guardrail, oft times the remnants of the damage are shuffled and swept to the side of the highway, and more often than not, I’ve had to dodge a discarded bumper protruding from under the guardrail that separates the highway from the bike lane. Glass, plastic shards, broken grilles, smashed headlamps, etc. are just some of the items that I’ve seen accessorising the bike lane.
Of course all that I’ve mentioned thus far is in reference to my ‘daily’ commute, but what about when it gets dark? Well, that’s when the bike lane becomes a full-blown nightmare. If you think our highways are badly lit at night, you haven’t seen anything (literally) till you’ve used the bike lane after dark.
There are some areas where corners just seem to jump out at you, because of improper or insufficient lighting. The bike tunnel I love the most can be found near Jalan 222. It’s a crest, followed by a sharp left down a steep slope, then right and into a tunnel, upon exit, it’s an immediate left up a crest; Ari Vatanen and Sebastian Loeb would have trouble getting through this ‘special-section’.
The authorities really need to get on a bike and use the bike lane for a while, because there’s a whole lot more that’s really wrong with it, that one will understand only after experiencing it first hand, like the aforementioned entrance and exit to the bike underpass ‘tunnels’, which are like ramps, just waiting to send a bike and its rider into the nearest grass verge, or how even during the day some of the bike tunnels are so dark that upon exiting, we are blinded for a few seconds as our eyes scramble to re-adjust.
So the next time you see a bike on the Federal Highway not using the bike lane – granted he’s breaking the law – don’t be so quick to judge and condemn; it may be because the bike lane is closed and bikes are being filtered into the highway (happens all too frequently), or he just fears for his life and would rather take his chances among cars on the highway. Who’s right and who’s wrong makes little difference when there’s a body lying at the side of the road…
Pulling over at night, there’s a possibility you’d not see this until it was too late Can you imagine what happens to the bike lane here if it’s raining? Little or no light, bikers are temporary blind after exiting into daylight Words fail me. Lose control and smash into that. It’s too close to the bike lane! One of the worst bike tunnels, the exit is a sharp uphill right which is always wet Why is that concrete block even there in the first place? How could anyone survive falling off a bike and sliding into that? One of the very few properly lit bike tunnels That patch may not look like much, but it’s enough to cause an accident Cars have a barrier to stop them going into this pillar, why not bikes? The bike lane is always under construction at some point
