KUCHING: More than 60 per cent of vehicle registration plates in Sarawak do not meet the specifications stipulated by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
Rogie showing the correct measurements of vehicle’s licence plates at his office.
The department has thus been taking action against car and motorcycle owners whose licence plates are not in compliance with the official specification.
This, according to its public relations officer, Rogie Saui, would be intensified after the up-coming Hari Raya Road Safety Operation.
Under the Road Traffic Rules 1959, failure to comply with JPJ requirements in terms of registration plate specifications would mean a compound of not more than RM300.
Presently, the state JPJ has standardised the fine at RM250 for any offence after a month from the date of the issuance of the compound.
Should the car or motorcycle owners refuse to settle the fine after one month, they may be charged in court. If they settle the fine earlier than a month, there will be an early bird discount.
“The department has been taking action against road users since the beginning of this year. However, we did not conduct a special operation just for it. It has been done during our routine checks.
“The lettering on some licence plates are so small that they are hard to see,” Rogie told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said there were occasions when drivers just sped away even though JPJ officers signalled for them to stop. The drivers managed to get away especially during the night because the officers could not see clearly their licence plates.
Basically, a car’s licence plate should have black background with white lettering. Fanciful lettering of silver or rainbow colour is against JPJ regulations.
There is also a standard size for the algorithm that starts with a state prefix and a number sequence apart from the standard space between each letter or number.
For Sarawak, the size of the letter or the number on any car licence plate must be 70mm in height and 40mm in width.
The space between each letter or number is 10mm, the space between the letter and the number must be 30mm while the space between the algorithm and the edge of the licence plate is 10mm.
For a motorcycle, the height of the lettering or number must be 40mm and the width 30mm and the space between the letter and the number must be 10mm.
Rogie said he understood that most car owners depended on car accessory dealers to make licence plates according to JPJ’s requirements. He thus called on car accessory dealers to contact JPJ should they have any doubt.
“Usually, there is no problem with experienced car accessory dealers. It is the new ones that might not have an idea of JPJ specifications,” Rogie said.