More drastic actions on parents of night cyclers

JOHOR BARU: The police could take parents who allowed their children to participate in illegally modified bicycle racing to court in the future said Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
The deputy Home Minister said there are provisions in the Child Act and other laws which allowed such action against parents.
Currently, police can charge parents those to let their teenage children out unsupervised under Section 33 of the Child Act, which carries a penalty of up to RM5,000 or two year imprisonment or both upon conviction.
Nur Jazlan said police had taken the diplomatic approach and given advice to parents involved in such cases in the past.
"It seems the soft approach in the past did not get the expected results from parents, and the night cycling activities have been active for 10 years in Johor Baru," he said after a Chinese New Year celebration today.
He said the incident took place at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, which was a hot spot for illegal cycling.
"It used to be a hot spot for Mat Rempit illegal racing a long time ago, and police had crippled Mat Rempit activities in Johor Baru. Now it seems illegal bicycle racing has become the issue," he said.
Nur Jazlan said police could not take action against the cyclists as most of them were underage.
He suggested the state government gazette public roads, padang and other public areas as prohibited areas for teenagers after a certain time at night.
On the cycling accident which resulted in eight cyclists dying after a car mowed into them, Nur Jazlan said investigation showed that the female driver was not speeding, and was not on the handphone as claimed.
Johor police chief Datuk Comm Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said the 22-year-old driver was released today.