Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat has announced that action will not be taken against cars that carry an amount of backseat passengers that is more than the amount of seatbelts installed in the backseat, which are 3 at most.
He said the government understood that there are many poor families that have more than 3 children but have no other choice other than letting one rear passenger be without a seatbelt as they cannot afford anything more than a 5-seater car. However, the government does not encourage the overloading of vehicles that way.
He also commended Proton for agreeing to install rear seatbelts for free on a total of roughly 277,000 Proton cars that are not equipped with them, comprising mostly of the Saga, Iswara and GEN2 models. The exercise will begin in January 2009.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Another failure of rule implementation. just the same as twice paid salary per month. Sigh.
Lol….another flip flop eh?
Did the transport minister NOT think about this issue before implementing it?
Did he also NOT try to find out why poorer families can’t afford a 6/7 seater?
Whats next? poor families don’t have to pay the saman because they can’t afford it?
One answer: Abolish ROAD TAX for MPVs under 2500cc.
I thought that the directive to wear rear seat belts is to save lives? Now, what are they saying? If we have 4 children, which one is less important so no need to wear seatbelt? How exactly to seat 4 people behind if 3 wearing seatbelt and 1 not wearing seatbelt? End up all 4 not wearing (then only spacing between them is even).
Why are we really making it a law to wear rear seat belts…?
All those police / FRU / army who sit in the back of the truck – got seatbelt to wear or not?
You really have to wonder what kind of jokers are running that department. So whats the point of making the use of rear seatbelts compulsory if you’re still allowed to shove 8 persons in a small sedan? Those who cant fit the whole family in their car, they either get a larger vehicle or take (shitty) public transportation….end of story.
Datuk Ong, if you cant implement something correctly, then dont implement it at all. You end up looking like an incompetent moron.
Although the govt has screwed up many times wrt to transport policy, I think this move is the only sensible option given the circumstances. Seat belts save lives, and it is a good thing to make wearing them mandatory as much as is reasonable. Seems to me that people who make glib remarks like “get a bigger vehicle” or “take public transport” have no understanding about what it’s like to be poor in this country.
mate i did not mention that rear seatbelts are pointless, i just think its just plain silly to say that you must buckle up at the back…but oh dont worry you can still overload. What message is the department giving out here? Convenience more important than safety?
Seat belts saves lives, yes i know that, but wearing a seatbelt at the back when you’re still squashed like a sardine can isnt going to make it any safer. in fact probably just as dangerous as without a seatbelt.
I have no understanding about what its like being poor? I hope you’re not saying that being poor can be used an excuse to overload your car with passengers just because you cant afford a bigger vehicle and the public transportation system is hopeless. What is your point exactly? And who’s fault is it that the country’s public transportation system is the way it is?
git70 said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Seems to me that people who make glib remarks like “get a bigger vehicle†or “take public transport†have no understanding about what it’s like to be poor in this country.
———-
And who’s fault is it really? Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer? So much of the NEP of raising standards of the poor, even then its still one sided, as it only “tries” to raise the standard of one “race”.
Seriously, shouldn’t family planning come in before you figure out you can’t afford a drive them around?
Instead of bickering among ourselves, why don’t we educate the what, 52 odd percentange that voted for the government?
The short of it is, the transport minister just made a fool out of himself and the government.
oh BTW, didn’t jsut someone get another 1200APs to bring in Hydrid cars? Wow, talk about another cash cow. Gov’t can’t afford to subsidize the rest of us, but has no problem subsidizing the rich.
What a stupid implementation. It is similar to enforcing a rule that all guys must wear long pants in public, but it is perfectly OK to let your fly open and hang out your dongle for all to see!
hahaha…another Malaysia Boleh
Half baked, half cooked, half-witted policy and implementation by the G.
i just dont get all the negative comments.
the situation is this. today, by whatever reasons.. why people are poor, or why we cant buy cheap cars or mpv’s..etc. etc. thats not the point here.
thats the situation, and in this situation, i think the ruling from the govt is pretty fair, and still does its bit for safety. why even compare this to the twice monthly salary payment for govt. servants is totally beyond me.
the fact is, as long as you have 3 belts in the rear, or 2 belts.. they must all be used. As long as all belts are used is a good step forward for safety. the fact is, there will always be families in malaysia who will end up overloading, as they only have one car, and more than 5-6 people in the whole family. if 3 out of 4 in back belt up, its still better than all 4 in the back not belting up isnt it?
What would be even better is to remove the unneccesary import and other taxes for cars and follow the european/american car safety standard. By doing this, people can afford to buy bigger car according to their needs and voila, the cars are much safer too!
Currently the almighty G only wants to implement regulations that acts as something that may help to control the problem rather than to just cure it.
Huh? Is the government toking kok again? Enforce to buckle up but no summons for those who don’t buckle up and overload. Frankly ask ourself, will you follow the rules if it’s not strict enuf? Or this is to create another way for the cops to cari makan?
Summore, most of us are educated ppl, buckle or not to buckle, we have our own judgement. I can’t understand how these G can rule the country with this kinda stupid ideas. No wonders we are getting worse. Sigh…
Just imagine, how our neighbourhood country look at us? They may laugh our G for being such a fool. Enforce something end with nothing.
I agreed with BanyakMasukWorkshop. I think the Government’s true and only intention is just to save lives. Last year alone we had 6282 deaths due to road accidents, and from it 1228 were car drivers and passengers. By buckling up front and rear, we can reduce the risk of fatality by 50%, and that’s are half the grief and trauma of the family members that we can prevent from them suffering. So my view is, whether it is a law or not, why don’t we just buckle up, for our own safety and others, and not because we’re afraid of getting summon. So for you out there, you can make a difference!
Agree with BanyakMasukWorkshop,
Anyway, I think there’s a conflict in ‘them’ to implement this law to a stricter level. We’ve been screwed up with expensive car all this years, which mean most of lower income people with ‘big’ family can’t afford a proper ‘car’ that suite their need. Imagine how they’ll react if the G says otherwise regarding this law. It will create a louder “voice†demanding cheaper car which will further make G in a very unpleasant position (coz I think G do not want any changes on those car taxes, at least in this very near future).
So, we end up with what look like being a stupid law. They need to promote safety (which I agree) but didn’t want to do something that will create too much public unpleasantness.
I got this feeling that the Law will be fully implemented (the right way) after the launch of P1 & P2 mpv. Should be cheaper & suite just nice to this group of people. And we’ll be screwed again (force to buy this brand).
Btw, it’s pure speculation of coz. I don’t have the facts; it’s just to initiate a different point of view. Cheers.
Will they be able to enforce this ruling? We still see lots of drivers not buckling up, using handphone while driving, tinted screens, PDRM and JPJ stickers, some even installing teardrop and flashing LED dashlights. Another ruling is just another joke. Couldn’t wait for JPJ’s Ops ‘Backside Seatbelt’ coming. That’s when they actually get their hands dirty, and also get on TV3.
I agree with BanyakMasukWorkshop but,
What was the use of enforcement in the first place if you cannot enforce it? If 4 people seat at the back, you cannot expect 3 of them to be wearing seatbealts and the last one sqeeze somewhere. Does not work like that. Its more like all will squeeze and the seating arrangement will be all over the place and not at the intended rear seatbelt area.
Again another pointless implementation from our “Boleh” G. Now I’m figuring, are there going to be more jokes come out from them? So does this means if any of the Datuk, Datin not wearing seat belt at back also got saman? Haha
half assed, never think through rule implementation.
no need summon 4th backrow seater, in a way is encouraging the public to seat more than 3 people in the back row of a car.
dumbasses.
don’t they ever think why people are poor here? the reason behind it all?
need i highlight to those cronies up there that the root cause was HIGH IMPORT DUTIES? UNDERPAID WORKERS?
hello????? are you so blind to not see? or just plain lazy to not want to see?
Not bad.. Indirectly asking u all to car pool more and save fuel..
hasty implementation without proper feasibility study being done!
typical BN style.
end of the day, all this arguments and debate about the politics of it all, the effectiveness of enforcement regarding this law, is totally pointless.
wearing seatbelts and ensuring our family members do the same is our own responsibility. we do it for our own safety and not for the government or anyone else.
i dont know about you guys, but as for me and my family, we will be belting up whether in front or behind, and irregardless whether there is even a law or not.
related news;
–> http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/18/nation/21584588&sec=nation