No more warnings for traffic offenders in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 1

KUALA LUMPUR – There will be no more warnings for motorists in Malaysia’s capital city, with police clamping down hard on road users who flout traffic laws come Oct 1.

Kuala Lumpur police chief, Commissioner Fadil Marsus, told The Star that warnings or advocacy notices issued to road users during the Law Compliance Operation – codenamed Ops PUU – will stop on Oct 1.

“Starting Oct 1, we will not issue any more warnings. Instead, we will take stern and prompt enforcement action against traffic offenders,” he said. Summonses, he warned, will be issued to those who flout traffic laws.

During the more than two weeks of Ops PUU, which started on Sept 6, Kuala Lumpur police issued a whopping 60,596 warning notices to traffic offenders.

Warning notices for traffic obstruction such as illegal parking, and not following traffic signage, formed the highest number of offences.

The Ops PUU, said Datuk Fadil, focuses on education and community engagement as well as easing congestion in the city due to traffic obstruction or illegal parking, and crime prevention efforts.

“The special operation is designed to instil long-term awareness about the importance of road safety.

“Our goal is to elevate society to become a law-abiding one,” he stressed.

Spearheaded by the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department, Ops PUU is conducted around the city, especially in hot spots for traffic offences.

“We focused on high-traffic zones in the city centre, including Jalan Loke Yew, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Tun Razak and several other hotspots under the jurisdiction of KL police.

“Between Sept 6 and 25, 60,596 notices were issued to traffic offenders,” said Mr Fadil.

Among others, the number of notices issued for traffic obstruction was 5,217, followed by failure to abide by traffic signage (2,489), not using pedestrian walkways (1,139), fancy number plates (927) and not wearing helmets (407).

Other offences included stopping in the yellow box (219), not wearing seatbelts (325), stopping beyond the white line at traffic lights (389) and illegal motorcycle modifications (196).

Car drivers were issued the most notices, with 4,664 warnings, followed by motorcyclists (4,587) and pedestrians (1,224). THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK