'Haul negligent parents to court'

 

Law enforcers should consider hauling parents to court if their children behave in ways that put themselves and others at risk. - File pic

KUALA LUMPUR: Law enforcers should consider hauling parents to court if their children behave in ways that put themselves and others at risk.

Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said responsibilities to ensure safety when the children were a danger to themselves, rest with the parents.

Lee said this when commenting on the modified "basikal lajak" case which had elicited public outcry after the High Court in Johor sentenced a clerk to six years' jail and RM6,000 fine for reckless driving, causing the death of eight teenage cyclists five years.

It was reported that the decision overturned a magistrate's court decision to acquit and discharge the clerk.

The case, said Lee, who is the former senior vice-chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF), throws into sharp focus questions on not only public safety involving children but also parental responsibility, law enforcement and common sense.

"It has been proven time and again that teenagers resorting to these pastimes are a danger to themselves and others and an unnecessary drain on the resources of law enforcers.

"When they are a danger to themselves, the responsibility lies with their parents to ensure their safety.

"If then parents do not exercise their responsibility, shouldn't they be held accountable under the Child Protection Act 2001?," he said in a statement today.

Lee said there is a need for preventive measures now and that this this starts with parents.

"When some parents were asked why they did not discipline their recalcitrant children, the answer was to avoid causing them stress. Is it better to avoid giving them stress and putting their lives in danger?

"Then there are the fatalistic parents, and of them, the less said the better. To compound the danger of riding in the dark in the wee hours of the morning, the teenagers also modify their bikes and remove the brakes.

"The next question is, who pays to modify these bicycles (?). Can the money come from their parents?," he said.

He also questioned why law enforcement in the case of mat rempits and basikal lajak was weak when the country could implement enhanced enforcement in cases of drunk driving, and non-use of seat belts and helmets.

"What about the responsibility of our educators? Are the right values being emphasised as part of the school curriculum?

"What about the bicycle workshops that make illegal and dangerous modifications to bicycles some of which are even without brakes?

"If teachers, parents and law enforcers act in accordance with rules of good behaviour, we will surely not have to suffer needless road deaths and court cases," he said.

Lee also repeated the calls he made in 2019 when he was still the MCPF senior vice-chairman.

"The time has come for the authorities to ban all bicycle lajak activities on all public roads." - NST