KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is forcing backseat passengers to buckle up and is targeting dangerous drivers in an effort to reduce road deaths.
The Road Transport Department (JPJ) cracked the whip on Thursday and issued 242 summonses to drivers whose passengers did not buckle up at 28 locations nationwide.
From now until June 30, vehicle owners and passengers will be issued a compound fine of RM300 (S$126) for not wearing seat belts.
Come July 1, they can be fined up to RM2,000, jailed a maximum of one year, or both, under the Road Transport Act.
The JPJ said that in the New Year's Day operation involving some 500 officers, Johor had the highest number of offenders, with 95 booked for not buckling up.
The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), quoting a 1999 report by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that in all crashes, rear seat belts cut fatalities by 44 per cent.
Miros also disclosed that in the first 11 months of last year, road accidents killed 5,976 people, almost matching the 2007 total of 6,282. The death rate was almost five times that of Sweden, the safest country by number of deaths, and higher than Japan, Australia and New Zealand in 2006.
Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah, head of Miros, described Malaysia's 10 million drivers as 'offensive' drivers who view driving as a competition.
Malaysian drivers are 'absolutely useless', said insurance lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu, who has practised for 27 years and has handled more than 5,000 accident cases.
'Kids are not taught to respect property.'
In many Malaysian cars, babies sit on laps without restraints, rather than in child seats. Families of four or five can be seen without helmets on a moped. Buses and trucks drive almost nose-to-tail at speeds of 120kmh, and motorbikes weave through gridlocked roads. In the evenings, bikers, known in Malay as mat rempit, race and perform stunts illegally on public roads.
'If people don't get killed on the racing circuit, I don't see why they should get killed on the roads,' said Mr Suret Singh, director-general of the Malaysian Road Safety Department.
He is planning to install surveillance cameras, introduce dedicated lanes for mopeds as well as persuade more people to use public transport, as part of a 'zero-fatality vision'.
Miros is working to reach a target of two deaths per 10,000 vehicles by 2010. Motorcycle deaths account for as much as 58 per cent of all victims killed on the roads, Dr Ahmad Farhan said.
