FEBRUARY 24 — The primary purpose of roads in residential areas is to provide safe, direct, and efficient access to homes, schools, and neighbourhood amenities while fostering a quiet, liveable environment.
Roads also provide a smooth drive and if a protruding kerb is built at road junctions to slow drivers, it should have safety features to warn drivers and not catch non-residential drivers by surprise.
The road Jalan 17/1a, Section 17, Petaling Jaya has a kerb which suddenly protruded approximately 2 metres into the roadway. There were no safety features to warn drivers. I am sure many unsuspecting drivers had driven over the kerbs resulting in damage to their vehicles.
The latest incident was on 14th February 2026 at 8pm, where a driver ran over the protruding kerb, damaging her left front tyre.
The driver made a claim to MBPJ but the claim was rejected as the authority said roads under their municipalities are built according to their “Petaling Jaya Universal Design Guidelines 2019 Edition” and there was no evidence the accident was caused by the negligence of the authority.
The Petaling Jaya Universal Design Guidelines 2019 Edition covers accessibility requirements for pedestrian paths, public facilities, and parking to ensure compliance with universal design.
The writer accessed the said guideline but could not find any mention of universal design standards for kerbs. The guideline was to ensure that facilities constructed by MBPJ also cater for the OKU; people with disability.
In universal design, kerbs can be built protruding into the roadway, and this design is a common urban planning technique known as a kerb extension, “bulb-out,” or “neckdown”.
They are increasingly being built from parking lot exits to road junctions to enhance pedestrian safety and manage traffic flow. The kerb extension in Jalan 17/1a is a bulb-out kerb.
Kerb extensions
The kerb extension in Jalan 17/1a Petaling Jaya (left) is a bulb-out kerb that is done intentionally to narrow the roadway so drivers to slow down, making it safe for both pedestrians and motorists. — Picture courtesy of Wong Soo Kan
Pedestrians standing on a bulb-out are more visible to oncoming traffic than those standing on the road.
When kerb extensions, bulb-outs, or neckdowns are built protruding into the roadway, several safety features must be incorporated to improve safety.
Key safety features such as reflective bollards are often installed from the tip of the protruding kerb to alert drivers, especially at night.
The kerb area is usually painted with reflective paint to make the extension visible to approaching drivers. The surroundings of the protruding kerbs must be illuminated with street lights to improve visibility.
I hope the authorities could incorporate the safety features for kerb extensions to prevent accidents to unsuspecting drivers.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
