When will they learn?

 

On Aug 14, two 13-year-old boys died in a head-on collision while performing wheelie stunts at the Jalan Elmina Business Park in Aman Putri, Sungai Pelong. They were showing off their skills by balancing their motorbikes on their rear wheels, at high speed.

The incident occurred on a public road at 11.20pm. Did their parents give them permission to go out that late or did the boys sneak out without their parents noticing? Didn’t they have school the following day?

As the boys were underage, they could not have possessed a motorcycle licence. One has to be at least 16 to apply for one. Owning a motorcycle licence assumes that one will have enrolled in a motorcycle training course, conducted by an approved driving school. The rider needs to know the highway code and road safety principles.

The boys may have thought that performing racing stunts on a relatively quiet public road late at night was perfectly acceptable. This is where they were wrong.

Malaysians will recall the deadly incident involving Sam Ke Ting in 2017. Coming home after work late at night, Sam turned into a highway in Johor Baru and collided with several boys riding modified bicycles.

The recent deaths also showed how education and parenting had failed the two boys. One wonders if they had thought whether performing wheelie stunts on a public road would endanger not only their lives, but those of other road users as well.

What happened to the numerous road safety campaigns run by JPJ to teach secondary students, many of whom use motorcyclists to move around, to respect traffic laws? Have these campaigns been effective?

Far too many deaths involving Mat Rempit have taken place but, in most of these cases, their parents are also to be blamed.

Some will claim that they were not aware their children had snuck out of the house. Others will say they were aware of their sons’ involvement in illegal races, but did not do anything because their sons would get upset after a scolding.

It appears that education has also failed the parents, many of whom seem to be unable to control their children and give in to their wishes. A lot of lives could have been saved if the parents had provided a bit more discipline for their children.

Some of the authorities, too, should be taken to task for continuing to ignore the Mat Rempit menace. Residents of housing areas where illegal racing is rife claim that the police do not always respond to their calls. They allege that the police know the boys will flee when they see a patrol car approaching, so the police have also given up.

Education, police action, a swift legal response and tough sentencing against those who are involved in such incidents should act as a deterrent. There must also be political will to tackle the Mat Rempit menace once and for all. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.