Published: Sunday December 20, 2009 Rider survival programme for motorcyclists KUALA LUMPUR: More programmes to enhance knowledge and skill on motorcycle riding will be carried out by the Road Safety Department so that riders are better prepared to deal with emergency situations. Its director-general Datuk Suret Singh said such an effort was necessary so that motorcyclists and their pillion riders knew what to do if they were to encounter problems while on their way to their destinations. “This will be a continuous effort to change the mindset of motorists to have a proper road safety culture, especially among motorcyclists,” he told reporters after opening the Riders Survival programme here Sunday. Suret Singh, who is also the Asean Road Safety chairman, said the programme, which was supported by the Road Safety Marshall Club, would be made a model for other Asean countries. Earlier, when launching the programme, Suret Singh said motorcyclists with the “L” licence would have to undergo training under the programme before they can be awarded the full licence. Meanwhile, Social Security Organisation (Socso) chief executive officer K. Selvarajah said 19,000 of the 40,916 claims under the Socso employment injury insurance scheme for the first nine months of this year were for occupational accidents. Of the total, 80% were claims for accidents involving motorcyclists, he said, adding that Socso paid about RM1.8mil in compensation to subscribers last year. Federal Territory Road Transport Department (RTD) head of operation unit, Syed Abdullah Syed Husain, said senior citizens and the orang asli were required to undergo special training and talks before they could be issued with licences to ride motorcycles under the “1Community,1RTD” programme. “Most of those who are issued the licence have been riding motorcycles for a long time. “They also ride the motorcycles only to the mosques and shops near their homes,” he added. He said this in response to complaints that issuing the licence to senior citizens and the orang asli would only expose them to road accidents. -- Bernama