Amendments to Road Transport Act to be tabled on Monday

KUALA LUMPUR: Transport minister Loke Siew Fook will table a series of amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987 (RTA) on Monday, including provisions to criminalise illegal racing and “tonto” activities.

The amendments will also see higher compound fines for repeat offenders and laws to regulate the use of e-scooters and hoverboards.

Loke said the bill will be tabled for first reading on Monday and would hopefully be passed by the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday evening.

“These amendments have gone through a select committee that also comprises representatives from the opposition,” he said at a special briefing on the proposed amendments here.

Loke said 44 amendments would be tabled.

Commenting on illegal racing, Loke said in the past, the authorities could only issue a summons if the offenders had no road tax or had modified their vehicles.

“But we couldn’t charge them (for illegal racing) as there was no specific provision.

“With these amendments, we can charge them and hopefully it would be a deterrent,” he said, adding that illegal racing was a “menace, especially on weekends”.

Loke went on to say that the proposal to increase the maximum fine for repeat offenders was because they found that the current rate of RM300 was ineffective as a deterrent.

He also said there were currently no specific laws to address the issue of “tontos” who acted as lookouts for criminal syndicates to evade law enforcement.

Loke said these “tontos” would tail and obstruct enforcement officers and share information about their whereabouts.

Other amendments included allowing those involved in minor accidents to lodge police reports online and barring vehicle owners with outstanding summonses or cases from leaving the country and preventing foreign vehicles with similar issues from entering the country.

The amendments will also seek to increase the penalty for submitting fake documents or providing the road transport department (JPJ) with wrong information.

He added that a separate amendment to require offenders to pay compensation to the families of road accident victims would be tabled later this year.

In March, Loke said the ministry was drafting provisions to make compensation mandatory for offenders, following a fatal crash in Klang involving a driver allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The last time the act was amended was in 2020, when stiffer penalties were introduced.