What is the Class B1 licence and why is JPJ killing it?
[kt comments: Just a relevant extract of the article which I want to comment upon]
Where did Class B1 come from?
The Class B1 licence is an archaic category that has been around since Malaysia’s independence and a vestige of the British colonial administration that licensed classes based on a motorcycle’s capacity.
The regulations reflected circumstances then, when British-made 350cc to 500cc motorcycles were dominant in the country and supported the need for such an intermediate class of licence.
However, the introduction of Japanese motorcycles with growing displacement in the late 1960 and early 1970s started changing this.
Over the years, motorcycle engines kept rising in capacity, resulting in the relative popularity of models with capacities that would require a Class B licence to operate. This shift resulted in the Class B1 licence being effectively outmoded.
The Class B1 licence is an archaic category that has been around since Malaysia’s independence and a vestige of the British colonial administration that licensed classes based on a motorcycle’s capacity.
The regulations reflected circumstances then, when British-made 350cc to 500cc motorcycles were dominant in the country and supported the need for such an intermediate class of licence.
However, the introduction of Japanese motorcycles with growing displacement in the late 1960 and early 1970s started changing this.
Over the years, motorcycle engines kept rising in capacity, resulting in the relative popularity of models with capacities that would require a Class B licence to operate. This shift resulted in the Class B1 licence being effectively outmoded.
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kt comments:
Sorry lah Malay Mail - you are incorrect. B1 Class Motorcycle Licence came in way after the British left us, sometime in 1965 (+/- 1 year thereabouts). I know because my aunt and uncle took their motorcycle tests around that time, with my poor uncle suffering an ego-busting humiliation (wakakaka) when he took the test just 1 week after the B1 Classification came into play, whilst his wife, my more physically fragile aunt took the test 1 week before the new classification and was entitled to ride on (legally, not that she was going to) humongous bikes.
The Malaysian (not Pommie) policy rationale (or as my uncle then termed it, a 'pathetic' argument, wakakaka) then was that many who took their motorcycle tests on 50cc Honda Cup should not be qualified nor trusted to handle big motorcycle machines like the powerful Norton or Triumph on the roads - quite a logical-reasonable policy.
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Norton |
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Triumph |
Yup., a separate license class B1 was a recognition that powerful motorcycles that were capable of very high acceleration and speeds, larger size and heavier in weight (in some case very significantly heavier) required a stricter standard of skills than required by the basic motorcycle test.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it was the right decision,, and the Transport Ministry should not remove the stricter standard.
Just as a light plane pilots license for visual flight rules only, requires a very different standard from multi-engine commercial airlines pilot license.