It’s high time the authorities took stern action against these offenders
Next time you’re stopped at a traffic light junction, look straight ahead. Chances are you’ll see at least one food delivery rider beating the red light, narrowly missing other road users coming from his left or right. On a lucky day, you might even see cars or lorries committing the same offence. Sadly, this is a very common sight throughout Malaysia.
In an effort to bring red light jumpers to book, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) is carrying out a nationwide crackdown codenamed ‘Ops Merah’ that targets motorcyclists (especially p-hailing riders) as well as other road users who habitually ignore traffic light rules.
Speaking to reporters at the Bitara Driving Institute (IM) near Padang Midin in Kuala Terengganu on Sunday, JPJ Deputy Director-General of Planning and Operations, Aedy Fadly Ramly said running a red light is a serious offence as it also involves the safety of other road users.
He added that in 2019, the nationwide record for violations related to traffic lights was 22,656 cases while in 2020, the number of cases went down to 12,764, largely due to the nationwide enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
In Terengganu, where the mat rempit issue is rampant, beating a red light emerged as the second highest offence as of August this year with at 476 cases, he revealed.
Motorists caught running a red light can face a maximum compound of RM300 and a court fine not exceeding RM2,000 under Section 79 of the Road Transport Act (APJ) 1987.
On JPJ’s cooperation with other government departments or agencies to track down traffic light offenders, Aedy said that local authorities were advised to install closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) at hotspots such as intersections.
This is essentially what Pakistan is doing in the capital city of Islamabad. On top of placing cameras around the city, they developed an e-ticketing system called e-challan under which the offenders will have a summon sent to their addresses and are given 10 days to pay. The system has reportedly reduced the number of traffic violations.
