PETALING JAYA: Motorcyclists are apparently escaping speed traps but in doing so many are ending up as statistics in road fatalities.

Of the 4,779 fatal accidents in the first nine months of this year, 3,223 involved motorcyclists and/or their pillion riders.

Federal Traffic Police chief SAC Mohd Fuad Abd Latiff (pix) said this means six out of 10 people who died in road accidents were motorcyclists and/or pillion riders.

On Oct 19, two motorcyclists, who were part of a superbike convoy, were killed at Km25 of the Karak Highway after their machines collided and burst into flames. Three others in the group of 30 superbikers were badly injured.

Last Saturday, another 33-year-old high-powered motorcycle rider, Mohd Rosmainie Radzi, died when his 650cc Kawasaki Versys rammed into a steel divider at Km15, Jalan Kuantan-Pintasan near Sungai Karang at about 4am. On Aug 25, 2013, a businessman, 47, died in a superbike crash at Km35.1 of Karak Highway near Genting Sempah, after he lost control of his high-powered motorcycle, Kawasaki Concours 14, which also crashed into a steel divider.

Mohd Fuad said the enforcement carried out on superbikers is similar to that on other motorists as they are also covered by speed limit rules based on types of roads.

"On expressways, these superbikers still have to follow the maximum speed limit which is 110km/h and they will be issued compounds of RM300 for speeding," he told theSun.

"The main problem is their plate number. We cannot capture the picture of their rear number plate as it is not placed on a proper place and is normally hidden under the bike seats. Besides, the front number plate for a motorcycle is of vertical view, unlike cars, and speed cameras find it difficult to capture the number."

He said on highways, these high-powered motorcycles were always blocked by lorries and buses when the speed cameras try to capture them for speeding.

Mohd Fuad said federal traffic police always conduct joint operations with other local agencies and authorities, including Road Transport Department, Land Public Transport Commission, Department of Environment, National Anti-Drugs Agency and Puspakom, especially on the Genting Highlands stretch and Karak Highway.

Traffic police had conducted a joint operations last Saturday and Sunday along the Genting Highlands. A total of 841 summonses were issued including for superbikes not following the plate number specifications.

However, Mohd Fuad said statistics on road accidents that involved high-powered bikes in Malaysia does not reach 1%.

All these fatal accidents which involved high-powered motorbikes raised several questions on enforcement involving these motorcyclists.

This has led the police into finding effective ways to solve the issue.

"We chose these roads because these are the most accident-prone spots for motorcyclists," said Mohd Fuad.