DRIVERS, beware. If you are the type who drives around with your phone on your lap while using navigation apps or chatting on speaker mode, you can be fined RM1,000, as a motorist recently learned.
Candi Wan, an Ipoh-based beautician, learned that the hard way while on holiday in Penang with her family on Tuesday (June 20) and her sister was driving, navigating the streets using an app on the phone.
“She had the phone on her lap and at a roundabout, she held up the phone for just a couple of seconds to double-check the direction,” Wan was reported as saying by The Star.
Unfortunately, a policeman noticed her sister holding the phone and pulled her over.
Wan said they explained to the policeman that her sister had only held the phone for a very short while and it was really on her lap.
“The policeman said even putting the phone on her lap was wrong,” Wan said.
The policeman promptly issued a summon for Wan’s sister to appear before a magistrate in August.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Soffian Santong the phone should be placed on a phone holder so that the driver can see the road while gazing at the screen, and the phone should not be placed on the lap.
“This is because you will have to look down at the map on the screen. This can lead to an accident,” he was quoted as saying by the English daily yesterday (June 22).
ACP Soffian pointed out that even though a properly-mounted phone on a holder is permitted for navigation, drivers must not be flicking on the screen for no reason.
“Stop and fix it if something is wrong with the navigation. When you are adjusting the phone on the phone holder, you can knock into someone,” he said.
“Drivers cannot pick up hand phones while waiting at a red light. This leads to traffic getting held up when they do not notice the light turning green.”
According to ACP Soffian, the intention is “not to issue summonses, but to make the road safer for ourselves and others.”
The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) has begun implementing harsher punishments for anybody caught violating the law on July 6, 2020 in an effort to reduce the use of mobile devices while driving.
According to a statement on the Polis Diraja Malaysia (Royal Malaysia Police) Facebook page dated Aug 8, 2020, first-time offenders can be fined RM1,000 or jailed for up to three months and second-time offenders can be fined up to RM2000 and a jail term not exceeding six months or both under Rule 17A, LN166/59 of the Road Transport Act 1987. – June 23, 2023
Main pic credit: SUNLUN Group
