Upcoming ops to target motorcyclists

The big scale op is aimed at tracking down motorcyclists who flout road safety regulations, including those who modify their machines.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police will conduct a big-scale operation to track down motorcyclists who do not abide by road safety regulations, including those who have modified their machines.

Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar said the move was initiated following the increasing number of accidents, including fatal ones, involving motorcyclists as shown in the statistics of “Op Selamat” held in conjunction with the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration in February.

“In this operation, we will look out for those who have modified their motorcycles not according to the specifications set. There are also motorcyclists who deliberately damage their brake lights to prevent their registration numbers from being visible.

“We will carry out this operation soon …. in the mean time we give them a chance to readjust the modifications they have made and repair whatever is necessary.”

He told this to reporters, here, yesterday after presenting letters of appreciation to 15 courteous road users and the best police contingents in the “Op Selamat” in conjunction with the recent CNY celebrations.

The 15 drivers were recognised based on their clean driving record, compliance with traffic regulations and safe driving.

Khalid said the fines imposed during the coming operation would not be reduced, and added that police should be more aggressive in carrying out enforcement in order to reduce road accidents.

On the Op Selamat 6/2015 statistics, Khalid said 17,632 accidents were recorded during the 15-day operation, an increase of 2,796 cases from the figure in last year’s Op Selamat.

“The number of fatal accidents too increased by 34 cases to 186 cases from 152 cases last year, with 122 fatalities involving motorcyclists. The total number of fatalities increased to 199 from 159 previously,” he said, adding that although the statistics for all accidents showed an increase, it was still lower than normal days.

The daily average number of road accidents is 1,300 but during Op Selamat 6/2015, it dropped to an average of 1,100 cases per day, Khalid said.

Meanwhile, he said, burglary cases during the Op Selamat saw a drop of 151 cases to 787 from 938 previously.

– BERNAMA