Thesun 2009-01-02 Page01 Paying For Not Belting Up

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No. 4670 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Friday January 2, 2009

TELLING IT AS IT IS

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Year in Review 2008

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Joy – and tragedy – greet new year

Paying for not belting up 242 WHO FAILED TO WEAR REAR SEAT BELTS ISSUED SUMMONSES UALA LUMPUR: The Road Transport Department (RTD) swung into action at the stroke of midnight to enforce the law on vehicle rear seat belts which came into force yesterday and promptly issued 242 summonses for failure to buckle up. The operation was carried out in 28 locations nationwide. Vehicle owners and their passengers will be given a grace period of six months to June 30 when they will only be issued a compound fine of RM300 for not wearing rear seat belts. From July 1, drivers and their passengers caught not using their seat belts would have to pay a fine of up to RM2,000, or serve up to one year’s jail, or both, under the Road Transport Act. Johor had the highest number of offenders at 95 in the RTD operation involving 500 officers, held from 10pm on Wednesday to 2am yesterday, RTD director of enforcement Salim Parlan told Bernama. He said many rear seat passengers had begun to wear the seat belts. In Penang, for example, only six summonses were issued and it reflected the success of the RTD campaign to encourage rear seat passengers to buckle up. “Statistics show that yearly

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almost 300 deaths are recorded because of the complacency of vehicle users who do not wear rear seat belts,” Salim said. The RTD also issued 550 summonses to motorists for not having valid driving licences or for having expired licence, while 182 summonses were issued to motorists for having expired road tax. Fiftynine vehicles were confiscated for not having road tax. Seventy-two summonses were issued for use of the High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps. In Kedah, state RTD director Jaafar Mohamed said summonses were issued to 12 rear seat passengers from not buckling up during an operation in Sungai Petani. Eleven summonses were issued in Negri Sembilan. State RTD director Kamal Saad said many motorists and passengers claimed they were not aware of the law. In Perlis, state JPJ director Abd Rahman Hussain said 12 passengers were booked for not having buckled up. In Kuala Lumpur, federal traffic police chief SAC II Datuk Abd Aziz Yusof said there will be no special operations or roadblocks mounted to catch those who do not adhere to the rear seat belt ruling. Instead, enforcement will be done in daily routine operations.

He said owners of cars registered from 1995 without the belt mountings have been given a three-year grace period to retrofit the rear seat beats. Although cars built before 1995 are exempted from the new law, the owners are advised to consider installing the belts. Abd Aziz said the decision on whether the driver or passenger of a vehicle should be issued the fine for the offence is still being studied with other relevant agencies. A random survey by theSun yesterday showed that despite months of publicity over the rear seat belt ruling, many passengers have either forgotten that the new law is in force or are refusing to abide by it. In the survey of 100 cars with rear seat passengers, it was found that in more than half of them, the rear passengers had not buckled up. While a huge fine would do the trick eventually, education about the danger of not belting up seems to be lacking. Car owner Ivan Tong said: “After all, it is a new law. You can’t blame people for forgetting to belt up. I think it’s an annoyance, however good it is, but we’ll see how well it is enforced.” Ung Han Pin said he liked to “move freely” in the back seat instead of belting up. However, he agreed that the law is to prevent more fatalities in accidents.

THE WORLD ushered in 2009 in contrasting fashion yesterday. In Hongkong, it was party-time when revellers – many wearing “Happy 2009”-shaped eyeglasses – turned up in full force to welcome the new year (left pix). Despite predictions of an economic slowdown, many cities staged fireworks, rock concerts and street parties in the countdown to 2009. In Sydney, a record crowd of up to 1.5 million Australians and tourists kicked off the global new year celebrations at Sydney’s biggest-ever fireworks display next to the Opera House. In London, an estimated 400,000 braved freezing conditions to see a fireworks spectacular on the banks of the River Thames, which engulfed the London Eye in a blaze of colour. And in New York, huge crowds stood in the biting cold to watch the traditional drop of the crystal

ball on Times Square, kiss and cheer in 2009. Back home, 36 couples took advantage of the auspicious date to register their marriage at the Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society in George Town, Penang (centre pix). After the registration, the couples proceeded to write Chinese calligraphy to signify the new year and their new journey of marriage. However, tragedy also marked the start of 2009. In Bangkok, a blaze at a top nightclub killed at least 58 people and injured more than 100 others (bottom pix). Dozens of bodies wrapped in white cotton sheets lay on the pavement outside as fire crews moved in to douse the embers of the club on Ekkamai, a street popular with foreign revellers and high-society Thais. And in the Gaza Strip, the conflict between the Israelis and Hamas raged on ...