Why Food Delivery Riders Are Malaysia's Most Dangerous Road Users

Drive in any Malaysian city for more than 20 minutes and you will experience it. A motorbike appears out of nowhere on your left. Another squeezes between you and a lorry on the right. One more runs a red light like traffic signals are merely festive decorations. And almost always, there is a brightly coloured food delivery box at the back.

Let’s be honest about something many Malaysians already know but are afraid to say out loud: food delivery riders are slowly becoming some of the most dangerous road users in the country.

This is not written out of hatred. It is written out of reality.

The problem is not that they are bad people. The problem is that the system they work under almost forces them to ride dangerously.

Food delivery is not paid by the hour. It is paid by the delivery. The more orders you deliver, the more money you make. Simple. So if you are a rider trying to earn RM150–RM200 a day, every minute matters. Every traffic light is lost time. Every traffic jam is lost money. Every slow elevator is lost income.

Now put yourself in their shoes. If you follow all traffic rules, wait at every red light, never use emergency lanes, never squeeze between cars, and never speed — how many deliveries can you complete in a day? And how much will you earn after petrol, maintenance, and platform commission?

This is where the problem begins. The system rewards speed, not safety.

So what do riders do? They optimise for speed:

• Run red lights (especially when no cars are coming)
• Use pedestrian walkways
• Ride against traffic
• Squeeze between cars at high speed
• Use emergency lanes on highways
• Make sudden turns without signal
• Check phone while riding
• Rush during rain

From their perspective, this is not recklessness. This is survival. If they are slow, they earn less. If they are fast, they earn more. The app does not reward “safe rider of the month.” The app rewards the rider who delivers the most orders.

But from the perspective of other road users, this behaviour is terrifying.

Ask any Malaysian driver:

The most unpredictable thing on Malaysian roads is not a BMW, not a modified Myvi, not even a bus. It is a food delivery motorbike in a hurry.

They can appear from blind spots, cut across lanes, and disappear again within seconds. Drivers are constantly forced to brake suddenly or swerve to avoid hitting them. And when an accident happens, everyone loses — the rider gets injured, the driver gets blamed, and another family suddenly has a big problem.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: the public enjoys cheap and fast food delivery, but nobody wants to talk about the real cost behind that convenience.

We like seeing:

• “Delivery in 25 minutes”
• “Free delivery”
• “RM2 delivery promo”
• “Late delivery voucher”

But fast delivery does not happen by magic. It happens because somewhere, a rider is:

• Speeding
• Taking risks
• Ignoring traffic rules
• Racing against time

In other words, we are indirectly rewarding dangerous riding because we want our food fast and cheap.

This is not just a rider problem. This is an economic problem, a platform problem, and a consumer problem.

The platforms want fast delivery to beat competitors.
Customers want fast delivery because they are hungry.
Riders want fast delivery because they need money.

So everyone pushes for speed — and safety becomes secondary.

Of course, not all riders are dangerous. Many are careful, hardworking, and respectful on the road. But the current system does not punish dangerous riders enough and does not reward safe riders enough. As long as income is tied purely to speed and quantity, risk-taking will always be part of the job.

If we are serious about road safety in Malaysia, we cannot just blame riders and call them reckless. We have to look at the structure:

• Pay per delivery encourages rushing
• Customers complain when food is late
• Platforms rank riders based on speed
• Traffic law enforcement is inconsistent
• Motorbikes are allowed to filter through traffic

All these factors combined create the perfect environment for risky riding.

So the next time you see a food delivery rider weaving through traffic like he is in an action movie, instead of just getting angry, ask a bigger question:

What kind of system have we created where a person must risk his life so that someone else can get fried chicken in 20 minutes?

Because that is the real issue.

Not just the rider.
Not just the driver.
But the system, the incentives, and the expectations of all of us who tap a button and expect hot food to arrive at our door like magic.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of any organization or affiliates with which the author is associated.