Masing in favour of fast action against traffic offenders

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KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing hopes that with the Chinese New Year celebration approaching, traffic enforcement would be beefed up by relevant agencies to reduce the number of accident cases.

He said taking traffic offenders immediately to court would help a lot, in view of the federal Transport Ministry’s initiative of taking prompt legal action against motorists caught violating traffic regulations such using the emergency lane and overtaking at double lines under the nationwide ‘Ops Selamat’, to run from Jan 21 to Feb 5 this year.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that road users who abuse emergency lanes or overtake on double lanes during Chinese New Year would be charged in court.

He said he would not compromise with errant road users, stressing that Ops Selamat would no longer be about issuing compounds.

On this, Masing remarked: “If motorists fail to obey the traffic rules, then they should be penalised in accordance to the laws of the land. We have the necessary laws to prevent road accidents. It is a question of enforcement. If bringing the culprits immediately to court could reduce the number of traffic lawbreakers, so be it – I will support it.”

Masing, who is also Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister, advised motorists to be more alert and careful when travelling on the road, pointing out that they might be careful but the motorists coming from the opposite direction might not.

“Motorists must learn to be defensive while driving. That is, they must drive defensively, even if they know the other drivers are wrong. What is the use of proving that you are right and the other is wrong if by doing so an accident occurs and death is the consequence?” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.

This year’s Ops Selamat campaign carries the slogan ‘Pandu Cermat, Sampai Selamat’ (Drive Carefully, Arrive Safely). According to statistics, the Road Transport Department records an average of 480,000 accidents every year and more than 7,000 deaths due to road accidents in Malaysia.