Kuala Lumpur weekend nights have become notorious for their death-defying, traffic-ignoring rempit races through downtown streets. Now the Federal Government, after years of trying to put a stop to the subculture, might instead work to accomodate it as safely as possible.
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor said today downtown KL might soon have a dedicated circuit where the capital’s motorcyclists can get their race on in peace.
The dedicated circuit will consist of regular roads within the city that will be closed off to all other vehicular traffic, similar to what has been implemented for KL’s Car Free Sundays.
Tengku Adnan told mStar that the proposal was a joint effort by himself and KL Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz.
“This won’t be to further encourage street racing, but at least the situation could be contained. We understand that for many of these youths, street racing is the only form of entertainment they have, due to the rising cost of living,” the minister and UMNO secretary-general said.
He added that providing a sanctioned race track inside KL would help dissuade rempits from engaging in more dangerous illegal races.
Also, Tengku Adnan mused that KL’s street race culture could culminate in a seasonal festival, replete with a complementary food truck park.
He stressed, however, that the proposal was still being researched, as the FT MInistry and DBKL have yet to determine which parts of KL would be earmarked for conversion into race lanes.
