KOTA KINABALU: Driving without a valid competent driving licence (CDL) was the most common offence recorded by the Sabah Road Transport Department (JPJ) during its special Chinese New Year operation, says its director Mohd Harris Ali.
He said during the state-level “Pandu cermat, sampai selamat” (drive carefully, arrive safely) campaign from Jan 20 to Feb 6, a total of 26,069 vehicles were inspected, resulting in 5,695 summonses issued for various offences.
“Of these, 1,220 cases (22%) involved motorists driving without a CDL, followed by 1,000 cases (18%) of expired road tax,” he said.
Another 751 cases (13%) involved vehicles without valid road tax, 236 cases (4%) involved commercial vehicles operating without vocational licences, and 111 cases (2%) involved vehicles using fancy number plates, Mohd Harris said in a statement.
“During the operation, 34 personnel also conducted undercover inspections as express bus passengers at 17 locations across the state. We found that operators adhered to road safety regulations,” he said.
Mohd Harris noted a 41% decrease in the number of registered offences compared to the same period last year, attributing it to the department’s intensified road safety awareness efforts.
He said more than 30 road safety programmes were conducted across Sabah in collaboration with the State Road Safety Council.
These included exhibitions, awareness talks, distribution of road safety kits and advocacy campaigns.
