PETALING JAYA: A proposed database of repeat traffic offenders should be linked to the Kejara demerit-point system and made accessible to companies hiring commercial drivers, say road safety experts.
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairman Prof Dr Wong Shaw Voon said this would allow authorities to identify high-risk motorists while enabling employers to check whether prospective drivers had a history of serious traffic offences.
He said the database was a good initiative, but its purpose must be clearly defined to maximise its benefit in containing crashes and traffic offences.
“The focus should be on habitual offenders with multiple serious offences and unpaid summonses rather than motorists who have committed minor offences but taken responsibility by paying their fines.
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“The database should carry habitual offenders of serious offences like speeding, beating traffic lights and using handphones, not minor traffic offences such as parking,” he said.
Wong also backed giving employers of commercial drivers access to relevant records to assess the safety of prospective hires.
“It is similar to applying for a loan from a bank. The bank will want to know whether you have good financial standing and are capable of repaying the loan.
“Similarly an employer, be it a transport or taxi company, should know whether the driver it is hiring is a safe driver with a clean record and not put passengers or other road users at risk,” he said.
Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua, who heads the Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre, said the database could help identify problematic drivers, analyse offending patterns and enable preventive measures.
He agreed the database should be linked to Kejara as both systems complemented each other.
“While Kejara provides a mechanism to accumulate demerit points, the proposed database could give authorities a broader picture of a driver’s offending history, including the frequency, type and severity of offences.”
Prof Law said criteria should also be established for recording, updating and deleting information to prevent old or minor offences from unfairly affecting motorists.
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Serious offences such as drink-driving, drug-driving, reckless and dangerous driving should carry greater weight based on their severity, frequency and recency.
He also supported allowing companies that employ professional drivers, particularly logistics, bus, taxi and e-hailing firms, to check relevant serious traffic records.
Former police assistant commissioner S. Markandan said the database could identify motorists with multiple summonses or those involved in more than two accidents, even minor ones, over a three-year period.
He proposed that such motorists be required to attend a compulsory road safety advocacy course, with failure to do so resulting in further Kejara demerit points.
“Before further action is taken, it should be determined why they have been involved in multiple accidents or accumulated so many summonses.”
Markandan said repeat offenders should also be warned that further offences could result in their driving licences being revoked and them having to retake the entire driving test.
Road Safety Council of Malaysia executive council member Datuk Suret Singh, however, questioned the need for another database, saying it could duplicate Kejara which is managed by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
“Kejara is supposed to be the national database of all traffic summonses and should be comprehensive enough to include summonses issued by both traffic police and the Road Transport Department.
“Both agencies need to work closely together to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the database, otherwise this proposed database would be a wasteful duplication,” he said.
Malaysian Road and Transport Safety Association president Md Hairolzaman Muhamed Nor supported the proposed database as an early intervention tool.
He agreed that it should be directly linked to Kejara to provide authorities with a comprehensive risk profile of drivers.
Md Hairolzaman said the classification of a repeat offender should be determined by both the number and severity of offences committed by a driver.
