Participants Doubt KL Car Free Morning's Safety After Near-Death Accident Of A Jogger
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 12 April 2017 08:37
- Written by Azzam Syafiq
By now KLites ought to be familiar with the Car-Free Morning (KLCFM) held twice a month, every first and third Sunday since 2014 − where busy roads like Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Ampang, Jalan P Ramlee, Jalan Pinang, Jalan Kia Peng, Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan Imbi are all closed for two hours from 7am to 9am.
Despite the event organised by Multigreen Events in collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), being hustle and bustle free of vehicles, it would usually be swarmed with cyclists, joggers, skateboarders and pedestrians who all freely enjoy their activities on the commonly busy streets down town KL.
And recently, as the number of participants have started to increase, with more than 80,000 people participating in the event since 2015, safety is starting to get out of hand.
On Sunday February 5, 2017, loyal event participant Maziah Mistry Amin, was hospitalised after she was hit by a fast-moving cyclist while running in KLCFM. The collision was so severe, that she was placed in the ICU ward and had to undergo two surgeries.
While the initiative is good to promote a healthy lifestyle among families, and is supposed to let people enjoy the car-free streets of the city centre in the nation's capital, a question that begs: Is participating in KLCFM really safe?
Safety Measures In KLCFM Is Disappointing
"I already had my training the previous day, so that day I was at home resting," he recounted.
He expressed how he was really shocked when he received a call saying his wife had been hit by a bicycle in the event.
"My wife went there with her friend. During the incident, she running in the correct lane – on the left. But the cyclist did not follow the rule and cycled really fast," he explained.
Maziah is currently undergoing further treatments and monthly follow-ups with her doctors. Fortunately, she is healing, although her doctors have advised her against lifting heavy weights or joining any sports activities.
Fadzli shared that prior to Maziah's misfortune, he has always been skeptical about KLCFM, saying that it is a very high-risk event, especially for runners.
"I believe it's quite dangerous. Whenever I participate, I always make sure to give way to the cyclists first," he added.
As an experienced runner who has participated in numerous competitions around the country, Fadzli notes that he is well-aware of the safety levels in the event, yet he deemed KLCFM unsafe.
"Even after participating in a number of running events, I still think KLCFM is the scariest for me.
"I understand the organiser's intent to create a fun leisure event, but I am still unsure of putting cyclists and joggers in the same event," he opined, adding that even with the lane separation, there are cyclists who still neglect the rules.
"I observe Malaysians are still not wary of giving the right of way to other slower road users," explained Fadzli, highlighting the recent deaths of eight cyclists who were hit by a car in Johor as an example.
Despite accepting the unfortunate fate of his wife, Fadzli hopes the organisers will learn from this mishap and improve on the safety measures for KLCFM participants.
In fact, he has spoken with the representative of the city's mayor and the organising chairman when they visited Maziah in the hospital.
"I have already heard of many small accidents happening in KLCFM, but my wife's case is the worst. I hope no similar incident would happen in the future."
Fadzli states that safety awareness among young cyclists are very low, and that the boy who hit his wife is a teenager, who irresponsibly sped off after the collision.
The organisers have ever since assured they have taken steps to prevent another accident from happening, however, Fadzli says nothing has changed – to which he says is worrying especially for the runners.
"After my wife's accident, my friend went to the next KLCFM to see if the safety measures have improved. Unfortunately, there were many cyclists still dangerously cycling into the left lane.
"I am really upset as this shows the neglectful attitude of our young cyclists," he lamented.
When asked on ways to urge the organisers to improve on safety, Fadzli shared, "I suggest for the organiser to separate the days for runners and cylists, or even separate the hours for the two categories of participants."
However, for any serious runners who wish to train, Fadzli does not recommend the KLCFM, but public parks such as the KLCC Park or Taman Tasik Perdana instead where it is a lot safer.
Cyclists Feel Their Safety Is Compromised With The Increasing Crowd
Nadiah and her husband regularly attended cycling events locally and internationally, using their folding bikes, or foldies, and both were regular participants in the monthly KLCFM. But as the crowd grew, she expressed that they both find it hard to navigate through, adding that the safety of the participants were being compromised in the situation.
"We rarely attend the KLCFM now due to the large crowd. We don't want to be a hazard to the other joggers, and at the same time we fear for our safety as well.
"The road cyclists and fixie riders sometimes cycle really fast during these events, and there were a few times when they almost hit me," recalled Nadiah, who also admits to having some close calls with a few joggers and children as well.
"There are more people attending the event in every rendition. I nearly hit other cyclists twice in the KLCFM, and a lot of my friends had some close calls as well. A few of them were involved in collisions with other cyclists and joggers," said Eddie.
Eddie believes that KLCFM is not for experienced cyclists who want to ride fast as they pose a risk to the joggers and pedestrians. And similarly, Nadiah thinks KLCFM should only allow cyclists who are participating for leisure purposes, as they cycle slowly.
"I understand that the more experienced road cyclists want to cycle fast, but KLCFM is not the place to do that. If I want to cycle fast in an urban environment, I'd rather go to Putrajaya where the bike lanes are well-equipped and the traffic is less congested.
"Even with the implementation of lane separation by DBKL, a lot of participants are not following the rule, joggers and cyclists alike. There have been a number of occasions where I've seen a group of joggers on the right lane, and cyclists going really fast on the left lane," said Nadiah, who reminded that safety is everybody's responsibility and not just the organiser's.
"I think there are definitely cycling habits in foreign countries that can be applied to improve safety of the rider and pedestrians in KLCFM.
"Helmets should be mandatory for all cyclists, their bicycles must be equipped with front and rear lights for increased visibility, and bells to help other road users be aware," she concluded.
As for Eddie, he believes our young ones should be embedded with a safety mindset, as he recounted the many times he had witnessed children cycling unsupervised by an adult.
He too hopes that the safety measures in KLCFM will be increased, and that participants, regardless joggers or cyclists would be more considerate of each other's safety.
"Some groups of joggers jog in a line, blocking the road for cyclists. Just because no cars are allowed, it does not mean the participants can do anything they want.
"Parents too should be more wary. The absence of cars does not mean that the roads are perfectly safe for children. Clearly, it is not," he emphasised.
Event Chairman Assures Safety Is Their Utmost Priority
Based on official records, there have only been four accidents in KLCFM history – with Maziah's case requiring hospitalisation, while the rest of the participants were treated with on-site ambulance.
When asked about Maziah's unfortunate accident, Nezzam explained that it was the participant's carelessness that caused it.
"Witnesses say the cyclist that hit Maziah was a teenage boy, cycling a fixed bike. We have informed time and again for participants that this is a leisure event, but still some of them do not listen.
"The cyclist that hit Maziah was going too fast and hit her," he said, adding that the organiser had taken precaution even before the accident occurred.
"Last year, we implemented a rule to separate the joggers and the cyclists attending the event by creating two lanes; left and right.
"The left lane is for runners, pedestrians, and parents whose children handcycle. While, the right lane is for faster participants such as cyclists, skateboarders and inline skaters.
"In order to help attendees abide by the lane separation, we placed traffic cones in certain sections of the seven-kilometer route.
"Even before we give the flag-off at 7am, we would inform attendees of the lane separation and remind them that this is a leisure event. In addition to that, we have created banners and posted it on our Facebook page," Nezzam shared of their efforts to ensure the safety of participants.
He further explains together with DBKL, they have smoothly managed the road closures and normal traffic routes, whereby cars driving near the KLCFM routes will be diverted by the DBKL officers.
There will be 30 DBKL officers placed all around the seven-kilometer route, as well as 20 traffic policemen and two ambulances on standby to assist them throughout the event. DBKL has also formed a special committee just to handle the safety aspect of the event.
"Unfortunately, some participants do not take this matter seriously. Even with the rules in place, they simply ignore the lane separation and just cycle wherever they please," Nezzam points out.
Based on our observation, we highlighted that a lot of cyclists in the event, including children, were not wearing helmets, as oppose to other cycling events where the organiser will enforce a "no helmet, no ride" rule.
To this, Nezzam answered: "We are not enforcing that rule yet."
Nezzam further clarified, "Some participants did not plan to cycle, until they see the free bike rentals. This is why they don't wear helmets, and some also refuse to use the free helmets for hygienic reasons. While there are plans to have helmet rentals soon, it depends on the sponsor's willingness to do so.
"We do give out reminders for participants to bring along their helmets, yet there are people who ignore our reminders. Fortunately, most of these people cycle slowly to enjoy the view."
Nevertheless, he urges parents who bring their families out to cycle to always use their helmets.
"Parents should emphasise safety first for their children. Bring helmets for them and make sure they cycle in the right lane."
Whether there will be stricter rules being imposed in the future or fines being enforced for participants who do not adhere to the rules, Nezzam says so far, the organiser along with the authorities have yet made plans for that.
"Currently, if there are any cyclists that do not follow the proper lanes, the nearby officer will give them a warning," he states, however adds that due to the self-funded nature of the event, they can only provide so much enforcement officers on duty.
For future KLCFM events, Nezzam has assured to find more sponsors and employ more officers to be on duty, to ensure that safety and security levels are elevated.
Ultimately, after all the efforts and prevention measures set by the organiser and the authorities, the safety of the entire event does fall on the participants, as it is everyone's responsibility to look after themselves and each other while on the road.
-- mD
Source: www.bing.com
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