Recent headlines in major newspapers have seen the above topic being the center of debate.. Some of you out there will ask why bother? Very ma fan la, it's pointless la, this la, that la.. Note that wearing seat belt when your the rear passenger do help in reducing fatalities in a car accident.. However, there are some flaws in the way it's being implemented.. Don't get me wrong here, I'm in support of the move, just that some issues need to be ironed out..
First, cars which are registered before 1 Jan 1995 are exempted from this rule.. Not only that, they get a full 3 years to install the rear seat belts, which to me is a 3 year exemption.. Now, if you look in the roads, about 20% of the cars on the road are definitely 1995 and older.. And knowing Malaysians, most of them would jump onto this opportunity and play ignorance to this rule.. And to make things better, it didn't state whether cars before that and have rear seat belts must use them.. A post I read in the newspaper suggested that cars without rear seat belts be exempted from this rule, BUT phased out slowly, just like what they did in UK and Singapore.. Now won't this sound like a better idea?
Second, what happen if the families involve are large and only have your standard 5 seater vehicle? The rule states that all passengers except the fourth need to buckle up.. Here itself is a problem, if the fourth back passenger is exempted from the ruling, wouldn't it brings us back to square one? When an accident occur, won't he too be in danger, both to himself and the people surrounding him? And back to the big family issue, if this rule must apply, are you asking all of those big families out there to buy an MPV? With the economy crisis looming over our heads, most people won't be able to afford such vehicles.. Unless the government is willing to come out subsidy for this families to purchase those vehicles.. Or would you rather leave half your family behind when your going on a trip? Or make double, maybe even tripple rounds? I bet you someone is sure going to question this when the rule is in effect (not long left thou..)
Third, this I'm so gonna love this one.. What is the minimum age for passengers who must buckle up? Todlers? You put a strap over him and next thing you know he'll be fighting to get out of it.. Some might say "Ah.. Fit the special child seat belt la.." Which brings me back to the economy point.. You know most of the families who are big are not very well off, to own a car is already a great achievement, and now they are being burderned with additional cost..
Moving on, if you noticed, they're two seperate rules on the ruling.. Vehicles above 3.5 tons, commercial vehicles and vehicles with more than 8 passengers are exempted from this ruling.. Let's set things straight here.. Commercial vehicles include taxis right? And taxis, like any other vehicles, have a chance to be in an accident right? So by exempting them, ain't your putting the life of the passengers at risk? Furthermore, mind you that not all taxi drivers here are that patient and carefull type.. And what about vehicles with more than 8 passengers? How exempting them is going to help the cause of this ruling? Sounds like somebody got some explaning to do..
Finally, and this gotta be the best of all.. By July next year, if you do not buckle up behind, you'll not only be fined the maximum RM 300.. You can be taken to court and be sued.. The punishment? A maximum fine of RM 2 000 or 1 year jail or both if convicted.. This is instilling fear into the public.. You want to educate them on the importance of the rear seat belt, not force them to wear it so they can escape the punishment.. And ya, it's a dejavu like the NS law again.. Don't go NS and be jailed.. Remember the case of that juvenile who was jailed? Didn't it became a big hoo-hah later when it happened? And after that, that method was never used again.. For now la.. Face it, I've a feeling that this will be the same case.. Some smart ass lawyer is going to bang the Government if the July ruling is enforced..
So, what's the conclusion? Rear seat belts are good for you.. Statistics has shown it can save lifes.. Look in US, UK.. It does good for all.. However, some problems above either need to be clarified or be fixed if the seat belt ruling is to take it's full effect..
First, cars which are registered before 1 Jan 1995 are exempted from this rule.. Not only that, they get a full 3 years to install the rear seat belts, which to me is a 3 year exemption.. Now, if you look in the roads, about 20% of the cars on the road are definitely 1995 and older.. And knowing Malaysians, most of them would jump onto this opportunity and play ignorance to this rule.. And to make things better, it didn't state whether cars before that and have rear seat belts must use them.. A post I read in the newspaper suggested that cars without rear seat belts be exempted from this rule, BUT phased out slowly, just like what they did in UK and Singapore.. Now won't this sound like a better idea?
Second, what happen if the families involve are large and only have your standard 5 seater vehicle? The rule states that all passengers except the fourth need to buckle up.. Here itself is a problem, if the fourth back passenger is exempted from the ruling, wouldn't it brings us back to square one? When an accident occur, won't he too be in danger, both to himself and the people surrounding him? And back to the big family issue, if this rule must apply, are you asking all of those big families out there to buy an MPV? With the economy crisis looming over our heads, most people won't be able to afford such vehicles.. Unless the government is willing to come out subsidy for this families to purchase those vehicles.. Or would you rather leave half your family behind when your going on a trip? Or make double, maybe even tripple rounds? I bet you someone is sure going to question this when the rule is in effect (not long left thou..)
Third, this I'm so gonna love this one.. What is the minimum age for passengers who must buckle up? Todlers? You put a strap over him and next thing you know he'll be fighting to get out of it.. Some might say "Ah.. Fit the special child seat belt la.." Which brings me back to the economy point.. You know most of the families who are big are not very well off, to own a car is already a great achievement, and now they are being burderned with additional cost..
Moving on, if you noticed, they're two seperate rules on the ruling.. Vehicles above 3.5 tons, commercial vehicles and vehicles with more than 8 passengers are exempted from this ruling.. Let's set things straight here.. Commercial vehicles include taxis right? And taxis, like any other vehicles, have a chance to be in an accident right? So by exempting them, ain't your putting the life of the passengers at risk? Furthermore, mind you that not all taxi drivers here are that patient and carefull type.. And what about vehicles with more than 8 passengers? How exempting them is going to help the cause of this ruling? Sounds like somebody got some explaning to do..
Finally, and this gotta be the best of all.. By July next year, if you do not buckle up behind, you'll not only be fined the maximum RM 300.. You can be taken to court and be sued.. The punishment? A maximum fine of RM 2 000 or 1 year jail or both if convicted.. This is instilling fear into the public.. You want to educate them on the importance of the rear seat belt, not force them to wear it so they can escape the punishment.. And ya, it's a dejavu like the NS law again.. Don't go NS and be jailed.. Remember the case of that juvenile who was jailed? Didn't it became a big hoo-hah later when it happened? And after that, that method was never used again.. For now la.. Face it, I've a feeling that this will be the same case.. Some smart ass lawyer is going to bang the Government if the July ruling is enforced..
So, what's the conclusion? Rear seat belts are good for you.. Statistics has shown it can save lifes.. Look in US, UK.. It does good for all.. However, some problems above either need to be clarified or be fixed if the seat belt ruling is to take it's full effect..
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