Home Ministry mulling new laws to handle 'mat rempit' issue

JOHOR BARU: The Home Ministry is studying the possible proposal of new laws to handle the 'mat rempit' issue, specifically an Anti-Social Behavior Act, according to deputy Home minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
"We must look into the preventative perspective, apart from the proposed Act, we need to explore other aspects of law to cover and prevent such illegal activities, such as inserting a clause in the Peaceful Assembly Act to prevent illegal bicycle racing," he said when attending the simulation exercise for counting agents in Bukit Indah community here today.
"Mat rempit activity is a nuisance but it also can cost lives, the problems is there for decades, and we could not place policemen there for 24 hours," he added.
He was responding to the statement that Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar posted on his Facebook account today, that police should take actions against mat rempits involved in illegal bicycle races near the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.
The Sultan said he and his family members experienced the loud noises from the mat rempit group between 12am to 3am, when they were receiving treatment and being warded at the hospital.
According to Nur Jazlan, Jalan Lingkaran Dalam which consists of eight lanes in two directions, and Skudai road are the hot spots for illegal bicycle racing sites. Both of which are near the hospital.
He hoped people still remembered the incident where a car ploughed into a group of cyclists and claimed eight lives at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, around 3am on Feb 18, 2017.
He said the police continues to take action against mat rempits, such as by issuing summons under Section 42 (1)(a) LN166/59 of Road Traffic Rules 1959 for illegal modified bicycles, which carries a fine up to RM2,000, or a maximum jail term of six months.
Police also can confiscate these illegal modified bicycles under Section 112(3) of the Road Transportation Act 1987.
Parents of these cyclists can be punished under Section 33 of Child Act 2001, which carries a fine of up to RM5,000, or a maximum two-year jail term, or both upon conviction.