Speed limits to be reduced by 10km/h?

imageAccording to a report by Utusan Malaysia, all federal and state roads will have its speed limits reduced by 10km/h between the 25th of September 2008 to the 12th of October 2008. Transport Ministry secretary general Datuk Zakaria Bahari says this move is part of an effort to “reduce highway accidents” during the Hari Raya season.

It looks like law-abiding citizens will have to set off earlier for their balik kampung trips thanks to the lower speed limit. This is actually not something new – apparently lowering the speed limit has been in practice since 2006.

Frankly I don’t see how lower speed limits will reduce accidents as the speed limits are already very reasonable (there was even a proposal to raise the highway limit to 120km/h some time ago) as it is and on the smooth parts of the PLUS highway, travelling at a pace of 110km/h may even cause some people to feel sleepy.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • dr_carz (Member) on Sep 21, 2008 at 11:18 am

    ITS NOT SPEED THAT KILLS. ITS STUPIDITY AND MORON.

    GO WITH THE TRAFFIC FLOW TO ALL MOTORITS OKAY.

    HAPPY BALIK KAMPUNG………

    HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY.

    DONT GO BACK AS A CORPSE OKAY!

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  • ALPINA BMW (Member) on Sep 21, 2008 at 11:20 am

    screw this, fuck datuk zakaria ” happy cock”…more chance for the mata to get duit kopi. we need a malaysian autobahn, not slow roads

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  • KY (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 12:31 am

    lower by 10km/h can directly increase the total number of cars on the road by 5-10% i think. how’s that going to help? @.@

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  • Paul Tan on Sep 22, 2008 at 12:38 am

    They just want to show they are doing something to justify their existence without really thinking about whether what they are doing actually helps or not.

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  • mofo (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 1:24 am

    I would take this as joke. Thinks about your family, drive safe and Selamat Hari Raya to all muslim readers. Cheers

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  • csv (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 2:49 am

    half arsed policy. typical government.

    its not speed that kills.

    its the driver mentality.

    why cant these people get it right.

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  • azrai (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 6:55 am

    Whatever. it is time for duit kopi for hari raya for some of us. Nawewee told so.

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  • dreamwork (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 8:07 am

    Actually reduce speed limit wont make sense….the most important is the “lampu jalan”…found that alots part of Plus highway very dark when midnite along the way from KL to Perlis…

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  • biggie (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Reduce speed limits is okay and have been proven many-many times (via numerous research and studies), furthermore it has been implemented all over the world to reduce accidents during peak period.

    Or Malaysian drivers are special?

    If you are sleepy at 110kph then you will also be sleepy at 160kph. And when you are tired you not suppose to drive. The free coffee will help

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  • theanswer (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 8:57 am

    reducing speed will make a diff..but for 10kmh it wont make much diiff at all.

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  • ideoteque_85 (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 8:59 am

    i would be very pissed if someone drives irritatingly slow on the smooth highway. jalan kampung in NY pun 55MPH. come on!!

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  • alihms (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 9:13 am

    KY is right. Reducing speed limit will only increase congestion. The supposedly safer motoring is too insignificant to have a real impact.

    Anyway, for those interested, there is a nice little road traffic simulation at this site- http://vwisb7.vkw.tu-dresden.de/~treiber/MicroApplet/ . Try adjusting the volume of incoming cars to the ramp, (for case 2 – on ramp). You can see how quickly traffic gridlock can occur.

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  • SY0H (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Hi,

    It seems there’s a scientific correlation between highway speed limit with accidents frequency. These studies have been conducted by many institutions and highway engineers all around the world. In fact our roads upgrades are direct contribution by these research. Just to name a few; collapsible road dividers (acts as energy receiver during car collision), sand traps located near some toll or hilly terrain for vehicles with brake failures, more-than-enough sign boards all the way (are you aware of it?).

    Then again, exception is made for Malaysian. Ours are very unique. Over here we have a lot MORONS and IDIOTS driving our roads. Not to mention there’re plenty wannabe ‘Initial-Ds’ driving their mod-Proton and mod-Perodua. I guess the ‘scientific correlation’ is not applicable with our road-users behaviour.

    For those who doesn’t recall, let me refresh what’re Malaysia’s 10 most road-offend:

    [1] Over-taking dangerously (without signalling or uses last minute signalling technique). In other words, “over take first, signal later”.

    [2] Near-incursion with other vehicles (because of tail-gating too near to the rear of the other car). Especially during rain.

    [3] Using handphone while maneuvering the car at high speed or dealing sharp-turn corners with inappropriate speed; thinking he could do that ala-Initial-D screeching with a front drive mod-Proton and et-cetera.

    [4] This would my most favorite offend. Right hand on the car’s steering and Left hand grabbing Ah Lian’s sexy thigh. (Owh yeah, she’s wearing that sexy bright latex hotpants, yummy!). This daring romantic techniques is only applicable to automatic car users and its far more dangerous for manual car users.

    [5] Switching hazard lights when the weather is foggy or during heavy rain. This is dangerous because it gives the impression the car in front is stopping in the middle of the road and thus incoming rear drivers might slam the brake all of the sudden. And guess what, the ABS-EBD doesn’t help too.

    [6] Night driving, knowing the facts that human vision is very limited during this hour of the day, some road users thought they have a Third-Eye or their eyes are equipped with those latest Night Vision Goggle. Hence, they drive even faster during night than day time!

    [7] Night driving, some ignorant or “BUTA” road users switch their Hi-Light or Hi-Beam all the way “sampai kampung”. Causing other road users from the opposing lane to be blinded temporarily. Some road users change their standard light bulbs to Hi-powered Halogen Bulb or Xeon Bulbs. This doesn’t help either.

    [8] Some road users doesn’t have enough rest before a long journey. Thinking they are super human in the Universal Soldier, they sleep when driving and rely on their “sub-conscious” brain to drive the car instead. Although there’s a proven scientific study that the brain can switch off some of its function to rest and allow some functions to stay awake, but I wonder what happen if the brain decide to shut down the peripheral system (eyes and ears) first? Sleep first, than proceed “balik kampung”. Don’t worry, the “kampung” will always be there. It will not run away.

    [9] Plan your journey; when, where and how. A simple plan will help road users to choose the best road for the journey. Cut costs and avoid massive traffic jam. Most of all, planning helps to reduce road-related tension. Anger, frustration, despair and etc. just pick your poison.

    [10] Impatience. Patience, patience and patience. If you think you can’t handle the “balik raya” road congestion; I propose do not balik raya at all, just raya at KL, no jam (but the shopping malls will be closed). Or spend extra cash and buy yourself a return airplane tickets (MAS, AirAsia, Firefly).

    Safe driving everyone and see you all in one piece!

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  • BlackJKX (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 9:44 am

    Lets see weather the buses can commit or what…

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  • hiComp (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 9:50 am

    ah paul makes the point. no need to comment further.

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  • abtm (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 10:05 am

    more duit raya for our…ahem… very cekap polis

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  • ricaza (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 10:25 am

    biggie..if u drive a big car and u only drive at 110km/h.. you will be sleepy la.. not if you are driving proton’s.. you know why rite?? and if someone feel sleepy at 160km/h.. the he is the most stupid and morons in the world..

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  • 0204 (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 10:30 am

    If everyone drives at exactly 100km/h.. i really don’t mind.. but erm.. it’s not going to happen..

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  • ganz (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 11:35 am

    high beam all the ways is one thing
    and those using zenon-neon-argon white color headlamp.. damn blind my eyes already..

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  • 0204 (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    I’m won’t say those mod-perodua and mod-proton are the main reason causing accidents that really involves into innoncents death, most of the time they just kill themselves.

    From my experience, i’ve always been tailgate by Lexus, Harrier, BMW, Merc, Sanggyonng(if i get it right), Triton, Estima and all these “autobahn wanna drive at-er”. And i’m overtaking someone at 150km/h ALREADY. MOD drivers? Most of the time they just “undertake” or slip through any gap they can get into. But if you ask me which one is more dangerous, i’d still say tailgating. As it forces action to you (ordinary driver) to react(extraordinary). While the Mod drivers? you just stay where u are and watch ur brake all the time until they’re on thier own way out of your sight.

    I mean the last time i read in a newspaper is a driver trying to get in back to line giving up over taking because of the tailgate from the back. But then realize he’s going too fast and too close to the car at the front and lost control trying to avoid it. And of the key car that causes the accident, the perodua is the one not doing anything crazy sticking to thier own lane. I forgot whats the other car but i know one of them is BMW and both is big cars.

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  • dr_carz (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    SORRY BUT WE LIKE TO TAILGATE BECAUSE OUR CARS ARE EXPENSIVE AND VERY POWERFUL…….

    SO, U MOD DRIVERS OUGHT TO GIVE WAY LAHHH

    HAHAHAHA

    I KONW HOW IT FEELS TO DRIVE ORDINARY CARS BACK THEN! IT WAS LIKE AN ANT WHO HAS TO RESPECT THE BIG ELEPHANTS! HAHAHAHA

    OUGH TO HAVE DIFFERENT LANES FOR MY IMPORTED CARS MEHH

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  • nonengko (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    Every year same story. Slower speed does not necessarily mean safer to drive. But it will help to stop sooner if need be.

    The trouble is, many drivers are not competent, inexperienced and having poor judgment of spacing, lane hogging, sudden lane changes (with or without signalling) without due regard to the speed of oncoming vehicles, throwing fruit skins or cigarette boxes, badly maintained vehicles – especially motorcycle lightings. Just 2 days ago this bike in front of me was without any lights (both front and rear) at night and wearing a dark jacket with dark helmet and dark pants and shoes. Hello, you are asking for trouble. I may see you but the next driver may not be alert or worst still, a sleepy lorry driver.

    Is road safety only concerns reducing speed during festive holidays? And if you allow the usual speed limits, would more lives be lost? How do you know for sure? I hope the Government can do better than just this.

    Come next year, sama saje……

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  • 4G63T DSM (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    Wondering if they ever figure out that during any festive season the main contributor of accidents are motorcyclist. What are they going to do about them moto hantu?

    Besides, most will see this as a excuse to collect duit kopi anyway. Unlikely a 10km/h reduction in speeds will yeild anything, other than making jams worst. Habitual speeders are very unlikely to heed the speed limt anyway, so who else are you tying to catch?

    Reduction in speed during bad weather….sure…reduce speed to save on petrol..sure….. but what ever they have been doing is just a waste of time.

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  • BanyakMasukWorkshop (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    this obsession with speed = safety is not just reserved for the Malaysian law-makers. Many other countries in the world practice/suffer this “system” as well despite years of accident research proving this to be untrue.

    It is much worse in countries like the UK, and even Australia. Some european countries even take your license away on the spot if you’re caught speeding 30km/h over the limit.

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  • biggie (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    ricaza,
    big car small car ; proton, lexus, beemer does not matter.

    You should have ample rest before starting a journey. If you feel sleepy then take a break. Whether you in Kancil or Beemer if you feel sleepy/tired then still need to take that break!

    No need to rush… its not like you need to save a life !

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  • 0204 (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    and they speak like morons…

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  • ALPINA BMW (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    bn sure die tomorrow

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  • WXX8XX (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    Stupid suggestion.. Lower speed limits, install rear seat belt, do this, do that.. bla.. bla.. bla.. and yet Malaysia still up there with some of the most countries to have accident rate per year.. Less speed = less accidents isn’t proven anywhere in the world.. Take Autobahn as example. The Germany part of Autobahn(where there is no speed limit) has better accident rate record than the Swiss and Austria part where there are actually speed limits. In fact it has better accident rate than most highways in the Europe itself.. and believe me, the rate is farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr better than the one that we has in AutoPLUS highway here. This stupid Dato’ don’t know(or can say didn’t care) anything because he just sit at the back as the driver drive ignoring the speed limit with traffice cops escort. A typical cheap politician try to gain cheap popularity and forgot, that unlike him, citizens of this country did go to school and very well educated..

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  • torque (Member) on Sep 22, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    Bah! What a worthless proposition coming from this guy! A car driver that are very well awake driving a S-Class at 200 kph is far better than a car driver that were sleepy and tired driving a modify Vios at 100 kph…it simply mean that it ain’t the car but rather the driver were the cause of accidents! 200 kph Mercedes S-Class is well planted on the road since it were also design for high speed cruising…it ain’t built to be driven all the way within 100kph…NONSENSE! My only question…since when the Malaysian government take politician with a just primary education as their minister? I also want la like that since I’m a college graduate.

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  • lee1 (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 12:18 am

    HEI ASK YOUR SELF AS THE MINISTER….CAN YOU FOLLOW THE RULES WHEN U ARE IN THE HIGHWAY. I CAN GARRENTY U ARE THE TOF F1 DRIVER IN THE HIGHWAY OK.

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  • biggie (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 6:26 am

    wxx8xx. torque
    Studies conducted by Monash http://www.easts.info/on-line/journal_06/3562.pdf and others http://www.sense.bc.ca/research.htm shows clearly that reducing speed limits saves lives. Infact increase in 10mph in the states have increase accident rates up to 20% – some quoted higher figures based on different road condition. And research done not by primary schoolkids.

    The only study that shows speed limit increase can reduce accident have been heavily criticised (although the criticism not mention in pro-speeding websites) as the study only show that reduction of speed variation can decrease accident in higher speed limit situation (the study includes autobahn).

    However, in our greed to satisfy the urge to speed then we forget our own safety and of other road users.

    One more thing at 200kph then the driver only need to lose concentration at 0.0012 seconds (some studies shown much lower time) before hitting fatally a car moving at 110kph. No enough time to say “OH SHIT!’

    lee1, torque, If minister say the right then use it, if he do the wrong thing then vote him out.

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  • 0204 (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 10:24 am

    with u biggie.

    We live in a community where everyone share the same space. That means the highway as well. I’m not agaist speeding.. i just couldn’t agree with tailgating(non sleepy drivers) and endangering other’s life (that includes sleepy drivers at 90km/h). Sure the big expensive and safe car have better breaks, only when you press it, it has the best handling, only when you turn it into the right direction, so it’s not the car.. it’s the driver.. ofcourse it’d still have better chance than car that have no breaks or steering wheels, or driver that have no brains.

    One point i do want to make here, try not to tailgate. You can drive 300km/h no one would give a damn. But if you’re that desperate and want all the car out of your way. Buy yourself an autobahn… too poor? well then stick to it and stop shouting how rich you are (actually you can ignore the shouting part).

    You know what actually they should’ve some premium road or somekind, all the rich ppl can then join the memberclub and drive any speed you like. Then it fulfill the need of speeding for the speed devil, and the need of driving peicefully with no one flashing from the back. Oh well i’m just talking nonsence hehehe.

    Honestly i couldn’t agree that reducing that 10km/h is going to help much, speed isn’t the only issue we have here.

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  • Roti Naan (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 10:36 am

    I want to thank Transport Ministry secretary general Datuk Zakaria Bahari for his hilarious pre-Hari Raya jokes.

    hahahahahahahaa…(tickling myself now)

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  • mitlanevo (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 12:09 pm

    speed limit reduced = accident reduced ?????

    omg, this shall be the greatest joke of Hari Raya…..

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  • torque (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    0204,

    I think ur comments makes more sense than biggie altough he did present some facts to back him up. Still, don’t you guys ever watch Fifth Gear where they did study between drunk driver vs sleepy driver? Come to their surprise, the sleepy driver is much more dangerous behind the wheel compare to the one that drunk! 0204, I couldn’t agree with you more when you said, “..i just couldn’t agree with tailgating(non sleepy drivers) and endangering other’s life (that includes sleepy drivers at 90km/h).” Dude, I’m too hate people who care less about other people safety and keen on tailgating!

    biggie,

    Everyone including an F1 driver also are ain’t a PERFECT driver! That’s a fact. Still, there are no arguing that there are a better driver, lousy driver, slow like snail driver, moron driver and the list goes on and on. My point is to be a better driver you must most understand ur vehicle capability, ur tyres condition, ur brake system status, ur level of skill driving, ur level of alertness and ur current driving status (sleepy, drunk, well awake or whatever) only then I can assure you, you will have no problem even you driving fast. I ain’t gonna lie to you and the rest that I like to drive fast but I’m a very well considerate driver. I never drive fast whenever there’s a car close to me (only on empty open road), I also never drive fast when my wife and my daughter is with me and MOST important is that I never drive fast in my daily car Honda City but only in my sports car since it were built for speed!

    So sorry if I were not with you 100% on that. I ain’t saying you wrong but I stand to what I believe which is…each driver should responsible of their own action…that’s all! 0204 said it best, “Sure the big expensive and safe car have better breaks, only when you press it, it has the best handling, only when you turn it into the right direction, so it’s not the car.. it’s the driver.. ”
    It’s the DRIVER!

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  • tokmoh (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    At first I’m bloody pissed to hear this crap, but on 2nd thought…….it’s a move that can save fuel actually. What’s more, I doubt the price of fuel will drop anytime soon, heck, it may even rise instead cuz bodowi wants to punish us for all I care. Speeding, has become a very expensive hobby nowadays. Cepatlah jadi pm, DSAI oooi. I want my rm2/l petrol. nao.

    Nevertheless, it’s ridiculous to associate less speed = less accident. Nope, quite the opposite actually.

    As with torque, I’ve always believe all other factors pale in comparison to the driver’s factor. You ada S-class “uncrushable” pun, kalo driver bawa macam org ngantuk (since drunk driver is “safer” than sleepy driver) pun bole mati. I hate it everytime ppl tell me proton nvr care abt safety as if those ppl are bloody convinced msians are the kinda lot whose main priority in buying a car is safety. I would’ve seen more ford focus n volvos like that rather than honda n toyota. More inportantly, I would’ve been able to see EVERY SINGLE person belt up whenever n wherever I hit the road.

    Wanna complain proton x bagi airbag n abs as std? Poorah. Pakai belt pun nk kena paksa, ptuih. Stop using the car as the scapegoat n look more carefully at the driver: are our drivers as good as 1st world country driver? I don’t have to answer it, do I?

    Whether this law gets the green lite or not, it makes no difference really. We’d still gonna hv to prepare some extra duit kopi mar…kalo u tak speed pun nnt polis buat crita nenek dia psal nk “bonus” dari rakyat.

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  • hyundai (Member) on Sep 23, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    I will continue my 160 limit…

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  • SY0H (Member) on Sep 24, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    Hi,

    “Quote”
    biggie said,
    September 23, 2008 @ 6:26 am

    Well said biggie, we got a scientific prove here. I notice that over here; everybody wants the speed limit to match with their imported cars engine’s power. Overall, the speed limit will need to be adjusted to cater the majority road users. Majority drives Proton and Perodua cars or cars which has lower than 1.8 cc. I ain’t a political guy; just my personal opinion, this time the minister does the right thing. His decision is not popular yet it saves lives or at least reduce road fatality.

    I was once a highway engineer and disciplining road users would be equally important as well, especially in Malaysia. No matter how good the engineers designs the road, how smooth the tar is, and how well the road curvature and super elevation is set, they will always be some idiot that drives car and ram the divider. We post a 80 km/hr road speed signage for a reason and warn them of very steep angle corners and yet some morons drives it as high as 160 km/hr. If he kills himself is okay, I don’t mind, but what happen if he took the lives of other law-abiding car users. Husband, wife and children? Just like what my friend use to say; “Dah Tuhan bagi rezeki bawak Toyota/Honda dah bawak laju gila, belum lagi Tuhan bagi rezeki bawak Ferari, lagilah lupa dunia”. Owh yeah, just few years ago (in 2005 I think), I still remember, a very well know drunk rich man capsized his Ferrari somewhere near Ampang (and almost lost his life). Unfortunately, he hit some innocent motorcyclist and that poor guy died on spot. So much for drunk man drives safer theory. Sleepy or drunk both of them post threat to other road users.

    Imported super cars owner; you’re still not above the law. Your statements here just show your arrogance even more. Repent and drive carefully. Selamat Hari Raya and see you all in one piece. Enough said.

    Just my 2 Ringgit and 55 Cents (after revised subsidy).

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  • ALPINA BMW (Member) on Sep 25, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    lets set a limit of 1000km/h

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  • Sell Your Car on Mar 27, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    I think 110KM is the perfect speed limit unless your on the autobon or another highway deemed a speedway.

    For regular highway driving 110km is perfect, you can get away with 130km and that's fairly quick for the majority of people out there.

    Anything under that won't stop won't do much to stop accidents, if people know the limit and expect the limit of others cars it should run smoothly.

    Having said that, there are some real idiots out there that spoinl it for everyone.

    Neil

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