Debate heats up over crashes

B Ycoincidence, this is the second time in a row in this weekly column that I mention Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong in the opening line. In last week’s column, I wrote that I had high hopes that Wee would make a difference in efforts to significantly reduce the horrific death toll among motorcyclists.

I got a pleasant surprise when on the same day that the Friday column appeared, the minister texted me this note: “Thank you. Will look into this matter seriously and will discuss with Fadillah. Selamat Hari Raya.”

In last week’s column, I once again stressed the importance of special motorcycle lanes as an effective means to curb the high death toll among motorcyclists and for this, support from Senior Minister of Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof is crucial.

It warms my heart to know that columns such as this one are taken seriously by high-ranking officials of the government instead of falling on deaf ears.

Given at least two fatal road crashes in the past month that killed two men, including an off-duty policeman, I had intended via this column to whip up public support for mandatory jail sentences for such fatal drink-driving crashes.

It was Wee, who a day after Corporal Safwan Muhammad Ismail, 31, was killed while manning a Covid-19 roadblock at the Kajang-Seremban Expressway on May 3, who said that the government was considering mandatory jail sentences for those caught driving under the influence of alcohol.

“Drunk drivers in other countries face jail time instead of just suspension of their driving licences. If mandatory prison time is introduced, this could lead to more awareness of the problem,” said Wee on Tuesday.

And he added that it was time to provide justice for the victims of drink drivers as there was no reason for anyone to drive after drinking as ehailing services were now widely available.

Justice or more specifically maximum sentence is what Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador is seeking for the driver, suspected to be drunk when he crashed into the policeman in the wee hours that day, when he should not have been on the road as the movement control order (MCO) was still in force.

And last Sunday, a supervisor with Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, Irwan Herman Kamarudin, 41, was killed when the car he was driving was hit by a car that was going against the flow of traffic in Jalan Pintasan, Kuantan.

The driver of the other car is believed to have driven under the influence of alcohol, too.

These latest crashes have triggered a heated debate with a PAS leader going to the extent of calling on the government to immediately suspend all production and sales of alcoholic beverages and for new measures to be taken to prevent drink-driving or to put it more specifically, drunk-driving.

According to PAS information chief Kamruzaman Mohamad, fatal crashes involving such drivers have become rampant and should not be viewed lightly. He blamed this on the weakness of existing laws and enforcement.

Kamaruzaman cited alarming statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which named Malaysia as the world’s 10th largest consumer of alcohol with Malaysians spending over RM2 billion on alcoholic beverages in 2016.

As could be expected, Kamaruzaman’s anti-alcohol stance did not go down well with DAP member of Parliament Ramkarpal Singh, who described it as “nonsensical and going overboard” and that this won’t solve drink-driving.

“A ban on alcohol is not the answer to the problem of drink-driving. Education, stricter laws and enforcement are. PAS should stop politicising the issue,” said Ramkarpal.

Ramkarpal had a point, too. An official ban on licensed alcoholic beverages will only lead to the growth of smuggling of illicit beverages which is even harder to control.

Penang Consumer Protection Association chipped in by saying that PAS being part of the federal government now, in proposing the ban, could also compel its partners in the administration to stop using funds from sin taxes for public expenditure, development, education or social amenities.

In January, the then transport minister Anthony Loke said the Cabinet had agreed to introduce stiffer punishment for offences related to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

He said that the amendments to existing laws could be tabled in Parliament as early as June or July.

The next Parliament sitting is due in July and we can expect Wee to pick up where his predecessor left off to give the matter the urgency that is long overdue.

And to give real punch or teeth to the new law, a mandatory jail sentence for drink-driving where the driver who caused the death of another person should be part and parcel of it.

Under existing laws, custodial sentences are only discretionary in nature.

Enforcement-wise, it’s my view that greater effort should be focused on nabbing such drivers even before crashes occur.

You might ask how? In Kuala Lumpur for instance, before the MCO, there were many late-night pubs. So, too, in other cities and major towns.

One could see drinkers streaming out of these outlets and getting into their cars.

The traffic police could lay a roadblock for them at a nearby access road for breathalyser tests.

Chances are they will breach the permitted level of alcohol and they won’t be allowed to proceed with their potentially dangerous driving.

I don’t think this is being done. If such enforcement is carried out once the MCO is lifted and the pubs reopen, then like what Wee had suggested, the drinkers can go home using the e-hailing service.

Let’s try this out.