I refer to the Malaysiakini report Jerit cyclists reach Parliament House .

This cycling campaign by the grassroots coalition Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) has pointed up how bicycles can be used to make a political point. What about a cycling campaign to get us thinking more about the scourge of motorbikes on our streets?

An empirical study from Thailand by a social scientist at Kasetsart University, Motorbikes are a social menace , a researcher sheds needed light on the dangers of the burgeoning motorbike culture among youth in Thailand. It highlights problems also familiar in Malaysia, and suggests solutions.

Motorbikes are an ‘identity-creating tool’ for many underprivileged and marginalised young males, strengthening their self-esteem, and giving them a lower-cost vehicle to ‘show off’ with.

But the downsides are many, often dangerous: the motorbikes can lead to crime on the streets through speeding and mugging. The epidemic of snatch thievery, more widespread in Malaysia than in Thailand or Laos, is directly linked to the growing presence of motorbikes.

Many victims have been injured, dragged along in the street. Motorbike helmets are a formidable weapon that can be used to injure and disable potential victims for mugging, and to smash open car windows for an attempted robbery of a car where the driver is inside, parked or at a stop light.

Reckless speeding and snaking through stalled traffic is another obvious temptation, a hazard to pedestrians and everyone on the road.

There is evidence in Thailand that motorcycle advertising is specifically targeting youngsters who feel marginalised. With a bike they more easily join a gang, come home late at night, or ‘graduate’ to the serious street crime that is taking ever more lives here in the country.

The options will have to consider new restrictions on where motorbikes should be allowed, perhaps banning them from major thoroughfares. A clampdown on motorbikes should also be linked to pro-active promotion of public transport as the obvious alternative.

One attractive alternative is free public transport, which is a reality in some cities in Europe, like Hasselt in Belgium. Non-motorised sustainable modes of transport of various kinds, and more just plain walking, need serious exploration.

Community bicycle programmes with free bikes available for inner-city transport are working in many places and expanding.

In research, we need to look in depth at the social fallout from the tidal wave of motorbikes inundating our cities, towns and villages, and brainstorm alternatives.