No more easy rides for road bullies

 

The government is proposing major amendments to the Road Transport Act, and frankly, it is about time.

For too long, too many people have treated roads in this country as though the law does not matter. Speeding is normalised. Illegal racing keeps coming back. People drive without valid licences.

Some even continue driving after being suspended, as if enforcement is just a joke and the rest of the public is expected to live with the risk.

Among the proposed changes is an increase in the minimum fine for several offences that many motorists have long treated as routine summons matters.

These include speeding, driving without a valid licence, ignoring traffic instructions, failing to obey road signs, and several offences linked to vehicle registration. What used to begin at RM300 would move to RM500 for selected offences.

Some will say it is too harsh. It is not.

What has been too soft for years is the law.

When punishment stays low, offenders do not learn. They calculate. They take the risk, pay the fine, and return to the road doing the same thing again. That is why the system no longer commands enough fear or respect.

Slow down or else

The proposed amendments also introduce a specific offence for illegal racing and speed testing on public roads. Before this, those cases were usually handled under dangerous driving provisions.

Now, racing and speed testing would become offences on their own.

The proposed punishment is also much heavier. A first offence could bring a fine of between RM2,000 and RM10,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.

Repeat offenders could face fines of up to RM20,000 and prison terms of up to five years.

Complaints will come. They always do.

The same tougher approach would apply to motorists who continue driving after their licences have been suspended.

The maximum penalty of one year’s jail or a RM5,000 fine would be replaced by up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of between RM3,000 and RM10,000.

ADS

If a person has already been told by the court or the authorities not to drive, but still goes ahead and drives, what exactly is left to debate? That is not carelessness. That is open contempt for the law.

Safer journey ahead

For ordinary road users who obey the rules, these amendments should not be frightening. They should be reassuring. The people who should be worried are those who have spent years treating traffic law as negotiable.

This proposal also fits the larger direction the Madani government says it wants to take. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has repeatedly spoken about reform, governance and restoring public confidence. This is one place where that commitment must finally be tested.

The amendments also include a practical improvement. More transport-related processes can be handled digitally, reducing paperwork and making compliance easier for ordinary users. That matters.

Law-abiding motorists should not be buried in unnecessary procedure while habitual offenders keep finding ways to escape meaningful punishment.

Still, the law alone is not enough.

If enforcement remains weak, selective or inconsistent, then nothing changes. Malaysians have seen enough laws on paper. What they want now is application without excuses.

If these amendments are passed and enforced seriously, one thing becomes possible at last.

The people who have spent years making the roads dangerous for everyone else may finally begin to fear consequences themselves.

And that is not cruel. That is overdue. - Mkini

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MAHATHIR MOHD RAIS is a former Federal Territories Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional secretary. He is now a PKR member.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.