The use of child car seats will become mandatory from January 2020, but the transport ministry says that enforcement of their use will not begin straight away, with drivers not being penalised for the first six months when the ruling comes into effect, The Star reports.
Transport minister Anthony Loke said that he has issued this directive to the road transport department (JPJ). “The JPJ will not issue summonses to drivers without the child car seats during this period. Instead, the drivers will be issued warnings and reminders to install the seats,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.
He said it had become necessary to impose the mandatory use of child seats as a study by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS) revealed that only 30% of car drivers used them. He added that tax breaks for child seats will encourage their quicker adoption, stating that there would be no import duty for child car seats, while the excise fee has been reduced from 10% to 5%.
Previously, the ruling on the mandatory use of child seats was supposed to be introduced in 2019, but was postponed indefinitely as it was the announcement made by the previous government. It was only in October last year that Loke confirmed that child seat usage would be made mandatory by 2020.
The importance of using child seats cannot be overemphasised. We at paultan.org strongly believe that under no condition should a child (or any individual for that matter) ever be left unsecured in a moving vehicle.
Kids who weigh under 25 kg (weight is a more accurate measure than age) must be placed in a child seat (Group 0+, 1 and 2, fitted in a rear-facing position for as long a period as possible), and those under 36 kg should be secured with seat belts, together with either a booster seat or booster cushion (Group 3). These are absolute necessities, not optional.
It’s also crucial that they be seated in the back, and not at the front. This is to position your kids away from the front airbags in case an accident happens. You should only ever place a child seat or booster seat in the front if your car has a front passenger airbag off switch (not all cars come with this feature), but treat this as your last resort.
Of course, never hold your child on your lap when sitting in front, or worse, when driving. Your arms alone won’t be enough in restraining your child in a collision, plus you would also be subjecting them to the full force of the deploying airbag. This could potentially cause the child a broken neck, a fractured skull and other severe injuries. Lest you forget, you too, will be in harm’s way.
There’s no guarantee that using a child seat will save a child’s life in the event of an accident, but the chances of survival are immensely higher, that’s for sure.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Thanks YB Loke, yg timbang rasa & prihatin rakyat.
Biasa year end memang banyak belanja anak…
Dah extend .. senang kite nak menyimpan.
memandu biar anak se famili smue selamat ..
Mmg menteri yg terbaek la , cemerlang 5star!!
Mandatory but no summon so not enforceable. What does it mean? Is it mandatory or not? Is Pakatan trying redefine the English language?
Don’t piss on us. Many of us clearly have better grasp of English than you lot.
Be considerate, English Teacher. Don’t be a conceited fellow by insulting our minister(s) like that. The enforcement is fairly new to us and the ministers are kind enough to cut us some slack. Baby car seats aren’t cheap and not all of us can afford to fork out this sort of money at short notice. I do believe proper implementation will be done in due time. Till then, be gracious towards others.
P/s: Your last statement is a little flimsy. Might wanna check your English first before you put on another pompous show.
Good write up! Let’s work together for the safety of our children; the next generation of leaders.
Points to ponder: Price of Carseat VS Price of death, emergency treatment, life-long disability, medication.
Saya setuju. Do ensure safety of our children .. basikal lajaak, motor takde lesen, helmet cikai, ambik motor ayah tolong beli rokok kat kedai…
Points to ponder: Dont follow our past leaders,
and burdened our children; the next generation saddled with their hutang lapok debts. I still dont get it why they buy those kapal selam submarines , which cant dive. Huge wasted rakyat money .. wiser use for road safety. Sighh
How do you know that our kapal selam cannot dive? You work with Malaysian Navy ka?
Too bad rakyat now rindu zaman past leaders. So many have given votes back to BN. Its time to UBAH!
Our past leaders had foresight to ensure car safety features are coming in after long periods of unsafe cars during Madey era. Now our current leaders are more focus onto flying car which looks unsafe and not care about safety of the current vehicles. You look at this depressing news, they want to make it mandatory but no saman, talking like lalangs. Do or not do no difference. Like this nobody will care because the minister himself doesn’t care.
Rather than making the child seat mandatory, I would like to see the Ministry to enforce stricter punishments/fines/sentences to people who are caught driving under influence(DUI).
Child seat is not a cause of an accident, but it can reduce the impact of and accident. While DUI will always be considered as a cause of an accident. Stricter punishment is needed to these people who not only endangering themselves, but also endangering other, law abiding drivers and riders on the road.
Making the child seat usage is mandatory is a good move, but not all people can afford it. What if, the family has 3 kids, and has only Perodua Axia as their main vehicle, so 3 child seat is needed inside the small car? The implementation leave a lot of room that need to be improve, so it is not surprising if another U-Turn is coming.
Will Grab cars also need to have child seats?
Teksi merah putih also need to have child seats.
Those super fast lorry, containers along the NKVE is happily sprinting without being caught.
If there is no people behind? I dont what it is.
How many reckless driving death we already encounter and yet, nothing!
Enforcement for all offences against the highway code/road transport act should be the norm. So this would include DUI, excessive speed, reckless driving, using mobile phone while driving, overloading the vehicle – passengers or cargo etc.
Child seats should form part of the cost equation someone uses when they purchase their vehicle – it is akin to saying can buy the car but not pay for the petrol/road tax/insurance/servicing costs. If it is not affordable, then question why – should you have as many children as you do when income is insufficient to support them? Is your wage appropriate for the work you are doing and your living cost? Is your living cost made up of needs or wants? Perodua Axia would struggle to fit 3 child seats anyway. Responsible vehicle ownership goes beyond buying and driving it.
So…this is the way to punish for their “mistake”? Okay lets try to follow through the story…This guy bought his Axia in 2018 and already have 3 kids. What now? He needs to sell his Axia and change to another car?
Apasal beli kereta baru kalau tak cukup ruang? Why not you follow the story – buy according to your means. If got 3 children then shouldn’t the priority be keeping them safe, well fed with nutritious food and have a roof over their heads? What for take the chance that one or all of them may get injured or worse in an accident? Can’t blame God for everything that goes wrong in life if you don’t take responsibility for your actions. That includes main pancut dalam suka suka.
dont talk kok la pit stop. how dare u talk about affordability when the rear seatbelt that comes free; no need to pay; FOC; but still people dont wear it. why? so expensive meh to wear it?
it’s about awareness and being responsible. dont bullshit me. nuff said.
Now now, my point here is, why burden the citizen with this mandatory child seat without thoroughly studying it first? Without meeting with the people that will be affected by it the most?
Like my previous point, most of us the law abiding citizen are aware of the rules and regulation and adhere by it. Being responsible on the road is a must to all road user.
I simply said that the Ministry should FOCUS MORE on the drivers that CAN cause accidents (DUI). That is the more important and urgent matter that should be considered and implemented first.
while i totally agree about the DUI, dont u dare sideline the carseat. kids arent mature enough or have the power to make their own choice safely. we adults have it. so grow up and tread carefully.e
I am not sidelining the child seat issue. It is a good implementation, but the way it is done, seems like the decision is haphazardly made without proper consideration and consultation of the affected people.
Same concern here. I have 2 kids. My wife sits at the back to accompany the baby son(with carrier seat), my daughter sits at the front(with a child seat). And the car(sedan) is already full. So when travelling, I have to ask my parents to take bus, because we can’t ride together. Then the parents said:”useless son, have car also don’t let us ride. char siu is better than u”
Ban small bike too. They are the biggest nuisance.
Other country alreday implementing this long time ago … thats why we have 7 seaters or even more in MPV or SUV. If we cannot afford new, there are a lot of used out there.
Axia can fit 3 car seats. Excuses only
How will this affect Grab services? Will all E-Hailing companies make it mandatory for the drivers to have car seats in their cars? if so then how to ferry 4 passengers with luggage?
car price is still high….yet they are busy about car seat, flying car etc….haiishhh
the fantasy is not like the reality … although the intention is good…but the implementation is not wise… our culture…sometime , we bring along our siblings / parent together in our travel…imagine you have 2 kids with 2 child seat installed…where the parent are suppose to seat ?…get a mpv ?…the salary can only cater for a used proton waja … so…no kids ?..are you kidding ?
Yes..people like you shouldn’t reproduce..waste of resources
Hope after this kids will not be thrown out after been swiped off by drunk driver
Child seat will be the stolen item next year if it is not chainlocked properly.
Maybe MPV should have “tax breaks” as well…
should kids under 25kg be ban on a motorcycle? its more dangerous right?
Just hope no by-election from now until Jan 2020. Else U-turn again.
What about school vans and buses. The start of the new 2020 school year, is just around the corner.
no summones for first 6 months, then change the effective mandatory date to July 2020 lor ahbang.
kadang2 sesama kita nie ade kekurangan & kelebihan masing2… saya bg pihak majority ibubapa yg kurang mampu spt mmpunyai anak spt autisme, mmpunyai bilangan anak yg ramai, kurg mampu pakai kreta yg lbh besar adalah salah satu segi faktor undang2 nie xboleh diguna pakai. bg golongan yg punyai kelebihan spt mampu utk blipakai kreta yg lbh besar, anak cma seorg @ 2 org, mmg dpt utk patuhi peraturan tersebut… harap peraturan serta undang2 trsebut dinilai semula utk ke semua rakyat malaysia… sy mohon maaf jika sekiranya pendapat sy ini salah…
Memang salah..banyak je alasan..anak mati baru nak meraung..banging
How about school busses and public transportation like taxi, public bus and grab? How do you impose children safety in this matter? Do taxi or public busses need to provide child seat too?
Everytime this muka tak tentu hallah open his mouth it sounds like dejavu.
How many years have this been studied, instead of picking up from where it was left of, you walk in an make an announcement like a hero without giving anything more.
Just like all your annoucements, perhaps what you truly deserve is Mr. Annoucement award.
PS: I still have no idea how you calculate the losses incurred due to the previous Plate buying system. Did the buyers get it by paying half price? did jpj give a full refund while forfeiting the number plate from future tenders?
If No then how in the world JPJ can lose someghing they actually gained instead????????
It’s time to fatten your kids with cheap hormones,mc d & etc till 36kg+….or simply ride motorbike ramai2….
It’s time to fatten your kids till 36kg+ ….because my 13 years old kid only weight 29kg
In Malaysia, even government gives 10 years notice with daily reminder pun, at the end of the day, many idiots will give excuses hujung tahun kena pakai duit sbb anak nak sekolah, tak tau, child seat mahal, kerajaan tak prihatin dan other stupid excuses.
Just like helmet is mandatory to wear them but who cares police don’t care enforments don’t care many motorcyclist ride past also don’t care some more want to implement child seat? Is a good thing but not everyone can afford as it’s very expensive
Hmmmm…….Huhuhu…i have 5 kids but so far only have kancil n sedan… afterwords.. cannot balik kg together anymore..
Stupid work. Basic law pun cannot enforce, mau tambah law lagi ka. Lorry on highway are all racing at night but nothing happens to them. We law abiding people jugak yg kena tambah saman…after six months. Taxi and bas rapid pun kena letak childseat juga la mcm ni, baru adil. Kalau child seat penuh, itu budak balik naik bas lain…or naik kereta terbang, mid-air kereta rosak, terus semua mati…setel.
The idea of car best for safety. But, please think for who just has small car. If 4 kids still small …father as a driver…4 car seat in the car…where can mother sit then?
Does this apply to taxis and neighbours like me who sometimes gives my friend, his wife and five year old son a ride in my car?
My car is a 1992 model, so does not require to have rear seatbelts ad I have no kids, so do I have to install all the attachments for these child seat before I can give my friend his wife and son a lift?
This Pakatan government is good at imposing regulations which burden the people, instead of cracking down on the road offenders first.
Congratulations to Malaysia on making child car seats compulsory. Only 35 years after Australia! Malaysia is also considering an exception for large families with more kids than car seats? No such law in Australia. If you have a large family in Australia, you either have two cars with enough child car seats for each child or you buy a larger vehicle. There are no double standards on child safety in Australia.
Malaysia still has a long way to go on road safety before coming close to the road safety standards in Australia…
My child has outgrown his Group 0 child seat. I would like to donate this for other families to use. would you be able to tell me where I can do so? I am in Kuala Lumpur.