Friday 24 January 2014

No more lame excuses

Motorists who commit serious offences during the 15-day Ops Selamat beginning today will not escape traffic summonses even if they apologise profusely or offer other cooked-up excuses.

Police and Road Transport Department (JPJ) enforcement officers have been directed not to entertain appeals from errant motorists as the authorities attempt to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities which have reached worrying levels.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said this was part of the “total enforcement” strategy to make the roads safer, especially during the festive period.

“Previously, we used to advocate and create awareness on the need for us to be extra careful on the road but these approaches were not effective in checking the high number of accidents and fatalities.

“We cannot allow motorists who endanger their lives as well as of other road users to escape by merely apologising or giving lame excuses,” he said after launching Ops Selamat at the Seremban R&R area on the North-South Expressway.

Also present were PLUS managing director Datuk Noorizah Abd Hamid, heads of several other enforcement agencies including JPJ and Road Safety Department and Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research officials.

Serious offences include speeding, beating the traffic light, overtaking along double lines, driving on the emergency lane and jumping queue.

Bakri also advised those going on long holidays during the festive period to notify the police if they were leaving their homes unoccupied.

“They can either do so using the Rakan Cop line or inform us online through the PDRM portal,” he said adding that policemen would also be making more regular patrols during the period.

Earlier, Noorizah said the highway concessionaire would issue its travel time advisory on Monday so that motorists could better plan their journeys during the festive period.

She said the number of vehicles on PLUS highways was expected to increase from 1.2 million on a normal day to 1.5 million during the period.

“Since most Malaysians will start travelling between Jan 29 and 31 and return beginning Feb 1 and 9, we are confident that the advisory will help distribute traffic accordingly, thus allowing for smoother travel,” she said.v

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