KUALA LUMPUR: The Road Transport Department (JPJ) will not issue summonses to drivers of private cars who smoke but will book drivers of public service vehicle and tour buses or vans caught doing so, said its public relations officer Mohamad Sazali Baharudin.
He told Bernama that JPJ had no powers to book drivers of private vehicles who smoke while driving but drivers of public service and tour vehicles were prohibited from doing so under the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004.
JPJ, he said, had never issued summonses to private car drivers found smoking while driving as had been claimed by some people on social media, which has since gone viral.
Several blogs and social media users had uploaded a copy of a summons titled ‘Menghisap rokok semasa memandu’ (Smoking while Driving) dated Jan 27, 2015 and to show their dissatisfaction, also uploaded photgraphs of JPJ officers smoking while driving their patrol vehicles.
Mohamad Sazali said that the department had checked the summons concerned and confirmed that it was not issued by JPJ.
It might have been issued by other enforcement agencies, he added.
He said as for drivers of public service and tour vehicles caught smoking while driving, they could be slapped with a compound fine of not more than RM5,000 or fined not more than RM10,000 or jailed up to two years, if convicted. — Bernama