KUALA LUMPUR: The Road Transport Department (RTD), during a special technical operation at the Gombak Enforcement Station here on Friday, detected the tactic of drivers of heavy vehicles who stop along road shoulders or at petrol stations near the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway and wait for hours to avoid the RTD’s detection.
Kuala Lumpur RTD director Hamidi Adam said this tactic is often used by heavy vehicle drivers to avoid enforcement actions against them for the excessive loads they carry.
"This has indeed become a common practice among heavy vehicle drivers. They know that vehicles in a static and stationary condition on the road cannot be detained by the authorities," he said at a press conference for the Special Technical Operation Series 1/2025 JPJ at the Gombak Enforcement Station here on Friday (Feb 21).
However, the RTD has identified this tactic and taken action to ensure enforcement continues.
"We cannot detain them if they are static, so our team will direct them to disperse because their presence can obstruct traffic," he said.
"As soon as they move, we can detain them and take them to the weighing station for further inspection."
According to Hamidi, this special operation, lasting 14 days until Feb 28, is to enhance road safety and address technical violations that are at risk of causing accidents.
The operation being carried out by Kuala Lumpur RTD, in collaboration with the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) and Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), is aimed at detecting various technical violations including the use of worn retreaded tyres and foreign drivers without valid documents.
He said that in the nine-hour operation, which started at 7am on Friday, 315 goods and public service vehicles were inspected.
The inspection results found that action had been taken against 41 commercial vehicles, in addition to the seizure of five lorries, including the Roll On-Roll Off (RORO) type.
He also said that a total of 119 offences were detected, with overloading recorded the most at 56 cases, no competent driving licence (CDL) (12 cases), no vocational licence (10 cases), technical offences (six cases) and the rest being other cases.
In addition, AADK conducted urine screening tests and found three tourist bus drivers tested positive for methamphetamine, while Motac detected one offence involving the tourism sector. - Bernama
