Police nab man who dodged summonses

JOHOR BARU: A 35-year-old man was arrested for dodging payment on 78 traffic summonses he had accumulated over the past 13 years, during a traffic operation near Pandan on Tuesday night.

State Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department (TEID) chief Superintendent Razak Md Said said most of the summonses were for parking offences.

He said the man, however, was released the same night after police had recorded his statement.

He said the man was reminded to start making payments on the outstanding summonses or face legal repercussions, including having his name blacklisted on police records.

“The man was released after he promised to settle his outstanding summonses.

“He needs time to raise money for the payment so, we offered to let him settle the outstanding sum on staggered, scheduled payments.”

Razak said police understood that some people had financial problems and tended to delay paying their summonses, but it was their responsibility to settle up as soon as possible to avoid facing heavier penalties.

“It is an offence under the Road Transport Act 1987 for motorists to default on paying their traffic summonses.”

He said, for those having trouble paying up, they should approach TEID for alternatives on how they could arrange for the scheduled payment option.

On the three-hour operation, jointly held with the Road Transport Department (RTD) and Department of Environment (DoE), he said more than 600 vehicles were checked and 244 summonses issued.

“Police issued 156 summonses for illegal vehicle modification, while RTD issued 75 summonses for tampering with vehicle parts. “DoE issued 13 summonses to lorry drivers for noise pollution.” Razak said joint enforcement operations under the National Blue Ocean Strategy would be carried out from time to time to ensure motorists in the state abided by road rules and regulations.