Tougher action proposed on those driving under influence of drugs

The Star

The government wants to amend existing laws so those driving under the influence of drugs receive punishment on par with drink driving offences, says Anthony Loke.   The Transport Minister announced on Tuesday (Aug 6) during the special operations for Tourism Vehicles and Public Service Vehicles (Tourist and Express Buses) that the existing law on driving under the influence of drugs is insufficiently strict.   Loke added that the matter needs to be reviewed because it is not appropriate to wait until an accident occurs before strict action is taken against drug-using drivers.   Read more at https://tinyurl.com/w2aynrwf   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news  SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar  LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Can you hear me? Can you capture my voice?

00:04The joint operation of the Tourism and Public Service Vehicles,

00:08which has been held from 2 July to 31 July,

00:12focuses on all bus services and express buses

00:16that are in a safe condition,

00:19and the driver who has a racing computer,

00:21as well as vehicles that comply with all regulations and regulations.

00:25Based on the operation,

00:27the statistics show that throughout the past 30 days,

00:31we have inspected 19,456 buses,

00:35consisting of 7,308 bus services

00:38and 12,148 express buses.

00:42The vehicles that have been taken into action are 697.

00:46The vehicles that have been towed are 14.

00:49Out of the total of 19,014 buses that have been towed

00:53due to heavy errors.

00:55The notice issued 809 under the JPJ

00:58for inspection direction 434,

01:00section 59, 351, 419.

01:04According to the operation,

01:06the JPJ and the Anti-National Data Agency

01:10have conducted a series of urine tests

01:13on tour bus and express drivers.

01:16The test results from 2,547 tour bus and express drivers,

01:22as well as 26 drivers,

01:25have been found to be positive.

01:27So, 26 drivers have been found to be positive.

01:32We see this as a serious matter.

01:34Next, to ensure the level of law enforcement

01:38against commercial vehicles

01:40that use traffic jams,

01:42the JPJ has carried out a special operation

01:45on commercial vehicles,

01:47focusing on commercial vehicles,

01:49public transport vehicles,

01:50technical errors,

01:52traffic jams,

01:54and major errors

01:55from 1st August to 31st August.

01:58From 1st to 4th August,

02:00in 4 days,

02:01we have inspected 42,343 vehicles.

02:07The vehicles that have been taken into action are 3,725.

02:12The vehicles that have been towed

02:14in 4 days,

02:1528 vehicles.

02:18The notice was issued in 9,088.

02:21This means that the violations of the law

02:24against commercial vehicles

02:27are more serious.

02:29Bigger and more serious than

02:31express buses and tour buses.

02:33In the past few days,

02:3521 drivers have been found to be positive.

02:39Results from a series of urine tests

02:41on 276 commercial vehicle drivers.

02:46This means that in every 13 drivers,

02:49there is one who is under the influence of drugs

02:52when carrying out the task of driving on the road.

02:55This is a very worrying situation.

02:58The current law is not yet strong enough

03:01against drivers who take drugs.

03:03Because we can only blame them

03:06if they cause an accident on the road.

03:09But if a driver is found to be a drug addict,

03:15even if there is no accident,

03:20he cannot be prosecuted.

03:22He can only depend on medicine.

03:24This is something that I think we need to re-examine

03:27because we don't want to wait for an accident to happen

03:30before taking action against the driver.

03:32So I will discuss it again with the Ministry of Transport

03:37because this year we will pass Acta 333.

03:43One of the sections that we need to re-examine

03:46is this section.

03:47That is, if any driver is found to be a drug addict,

03:53even if it does not cause an accident,

03:56they should be prosecuted.

04:00Because under the current law, Section 45A,

04:04if any driver is found to be a drug addict,

04:09even if there is no accident,

04:11they can be imprisoned for up to two years.

04:14But this section of Acta does not apply to drug addicts.

04:18This is the group that we need to look at

04:22to close the group.

04:24When can it be completed?

04:26This is a process.

04:28We want to bring this Acta 333

04:30if possible in the third trial this year,

04:32at the end of this year,

04:33in October and November.

04:41For more information, visit www.fema.gov

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