JPJ: Illegal student motorcyclists rampant in rural areas
JOHOR BARU: Students who commute to school by motorcycle without a valid licence are courting danger.
Road Transport Department (JPJ) deputy directorgeneral (management) Datuk Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman said such incidences were quite rampant in rural and remote areas in the country.
“Parents should be blamed for allowing their children to ride motorcycles without a valid licence,” he said after closing a statelevel JPJ cadet camp here.
He said there are also parents or guardians who ferry them to school without valid licences.
Wan Ahmad Uzir said statistics showed 60% of road accidents yearly involved motorcyclists and pillion riders aged between 16 and 25.
He said these students and their parents also did not wear helmets while riding motorcycles to school and around villages.
“They assume nothing bad will happen during their short journey,” said Wan Ahmad Uzir.
He said this was because the fear of being caught among rural folk was lower than with urbanites.
He advised teenagers above 16 to apply for a licence under the JPJ MyLesen programme as they only needed to pay RM299 compared to RM600 at driving schools.
He said the response from those below 30 for MyLesen was disappointing as most of them claimed they did not have time to attend the eighthour mandatory course before sitting for the road test.
“They would rather ride motorcycles without valid licences than take time attending the course,” he said.
Wan Ahmad Uzir also said the department would beef up its operations to nab foreign peddlers on motorcycles as most of them do not have valid motorcycle licences.
“It is normal to see them making their rounds on motorcycles in housing areas, villages or plantation estates selling items like carpets, blankets and icecream,” he said.