IT IS dreadful to imagine two extreme ‘thrill-blazing’ indoor and outdoor past-times among Malaysian teenagers today – either an addiction to video games which is a cause for their obesity or embarking on daredevil stunts which will endanger their own lives and that of others as what the much publicised “basikal lajak” incident has taught us.
Kudos to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) which is closely monitoring e-scooter activities in the George Town vicinity following public complaints. In fact, the council carried out an operation focusing on the dangerous use of e-scooters on the roads from 11pm to 2 am yesterday (April 17).
A video on social media showing a group of teens riding e-scooters in coastal George Town at around 2:24am has gone viral a few days ago.
According to a MBPP survey, the use of e-scooters on the street is growing widespread, prompting a meeting to address the issue between MBPP, the police and the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to conduct enforcement action.
At present, e-scooters are prohibited on roads with riding e-scooters being an offence under Section 54 of the Road Transport Act 1987. Typically, micro-mobility e-scooters are used only on public footpaths or on isolated or off-road spots.
“MBPP does not issue any license to operators but is actively monitoring e-scooter activities for the sake of public safety,” MBPP pointed out.
“As a preliminary action, MBPP is monitoring recreational e-scooter activities whereby our officers will advise e-scooter riders not to carry out their activities on the roads as well as not to rent and ride the micromobility vehicle on the road.”
In the Federal capital, e-scooters are off-bound on the roads with effect from Jan 1, 2021.
Aside from a RM300 fine for the first offence – and a RM1,000 fine or three months jail for the second offence – legal action can also be taken under the Road Transport Act against individuals caught riding e-scooters on the road.
According to a Bernama report citing KL traffic enforcement and investigation department chief ACP Zulkefly Yahya, the police has received many complaints from the public over the use of e-scooters on the road.
“E-scooters are not allowed to be used on the road, and it is a nuisance for other road users, besides being dangerous as it could cause accidents,” he noted.
“So far, the police have identified three areas in the city where the scooters are being actively used, namely around Dataran Merdeka, KLCC and Bukit Bintang,” he said, adding that at present, the police was only advising users to stop riding these light vehicles.
Zulkefly said that e-scooters can only be ridden in gazetted areas such as playgrounds and permitted areas around shopping centres. He added that e-scooter riders will need to apply for a special permission licence from the director-general of JPJ if they wished to use the vehicle on the road.
Aside from roads, Singapore has enforced a “zero-tolerance” ban on the use of e-scooters on pedestrian footpaths with effect from Jan 1, 2020
The urbanised city-state has been actively fine-tuning regulations on the usage and safety of the widely popular devices, but in a surprise policy U-turn, ordered an immediate sidewalk ban on all e-scooters effective Nov 5, 2019
The move followed a spate of injuries and fatal accidents involving personal mobility devices (PMDs) as well as fires in public housing blocks caused by faulty e-scooter batteries. – April 18, 2022
