What are some of the things which P drivers normally commit which will cause them to lose their driving license?

1) Failure to follow rules and regulations laid down by the authorities.

A young, 17 year old P driver, who got his P license, J. Yen, took a group of his friends in his mum’s Honda vehicle to Subang Jaya. Not only did J. Yen ignore speed limits allowed on the highway, I was told by reliable sources that he even ignored traffic signs of No Entry by entering into it. This tantamount to being considered as dangerous driving, which no good driver should do.

If the JPJ or Road Transport Department officials were crossing the area when the above incident took place, this instructor is certain that the RTD officers would definitely have summoned the young P driver. His license then, would have been suspended for one year. He would then have to do a retest for Part II(parking) and Part III(Road test) of his practical test.

2) Not affixing P signage or emblems in front and at the rear of a vehicle driven by P drivers.

Although this ruling has been told to P drivers, unfortunately this ruling has been again been ignored by new drivers. Under the Demerit point system, P drivers are liable to lose their newly acquired licenses should they drive a vehicle with no P emblems on it.

Two years ago, my kampong and childhood friend, a Mr. Ong T.P., a TV electrician, came to see me about his son, who was summoned by RTD officers near Sepang, Selangor. Ong’s son was said to have driven a vehicle with no P sign at the rear of his vehicle. Supposedly, the P sign had dropped off without his realizing it.

The young man was handed a summon which he failed to settle in time. This resulted in Mr. Ong’s son eventually having his license blacklisted by the authorities. To lift the ban on Ong’s son, much hassle was involved in getting out a duplicate copy of the summons to facilitate payment. Hopefully, this story will be taken heed of by other young P drivers.

3) Not obeying traffic lights.

A student of mine, Tan T.S., who runs an accessory shop in Jalan Meru, Klang, once beat the traffic lights at Shah Alam, five kilometers from Klang. Another friend of the above person mentioned above, who was following behind Tan’s car, also did the same thing. Both drivers were P or provisional drivers.

The Demerit points system emphatically reiterated that a total of 10 demerit points could be handed to a P driver under probation. A total of 10 points could cause P driver to lose his driving license. Tan and his friend’s actions of ignoring the traffic lights at Shah Alam was unfortunately witnessed by a JPJ officer which was in reality following behind them.

The 2 youngsters were immediately stopped. The officers decided to take stern actions upon both P drivers. No amount of appeals could save the above two motorists. The P drivers who ran a traffic light, had their licenses suspended. They had to take a retest in order to drive again. Both were also suspended from driving for a year.

My former student, Tan T.S. came to see me one day. He wanted to do retest. All in all, Tan had to spend RM700 to do a retest at my institute’s testing ground located at the 5th mile Kampung Jawa Road in Klang.

And finally, I believe that giving readers of this blog another sample of how P drivers could lose their P licenses should be sufficient to deter you from doing things which might cause your P driving license from being withdrawn or suspended.

4) P license holders instructing their classmates/school mates at newly constructed supermarket parking lots.

Lately, I have come to know of certain P license holders, especially school children from well to do families driving to schools in their parents’ cars. Before continuing to delve into this problem, allow me to advise one and all a few important things:

i. To drive, the Akta Pengangkutan Jalan 1987 clearly stipulates that under Section 26(1) of the above Act, a person who wishes to drive must possess a driving license. Teaching a classmate to drive in your family car therefore is an offence. The P license owner is infact committing a few offences such as:-

a. You have no certificate to instruct anyone driving.

b. Your classmates/ school mates do not possess a valid license to drive. Therefore, if any mishaps or accidents should take place, your vehicle’s insurance company, will disclaim liability.

Pondering over all of the above factors that I have put forward, I’m sure you’ll be able to realize that what you are doing is indeed a very dangerous and stupid thing to do, you should therefore refrain from whatever you are doing now before any unforeseen incidents happen. Do not attempt to teach your classmates/ school mates how to drive illegally.

P drivers should contemplate what I have put forward for the perusal of all. Hopefully in doing so, you will be able to prevent your P driving license from being withdrawn or suspended by the relevant authorities, that is, the Road Transport Department, in the event that you are caught or arrested.

The above are but some of the ways and manner in which P drivers can end up losing their licenses.

It takes months to get a driving license in Malaysia. Getting a driving license also requires quite a lot of money. Before I became a driving school instructor, more than 40 over years ago, I’ve always wondered how on earth I was to secure driving licenses for my children, when they attained the permissible age of applying for a driving license.

For readers’ information, I have 3 children, 2 girls and a boy. With a salary of just over RM370 per month, in the 1970’s, I knew that that was no way I was capable to afford securing driving licenses for all my children. And so, to wriggle myself out of my predicament, I solved my problem by becoming a part time driving school instructor.

It should be borne in mind that attempting to take up driving courses to secure driving licenses is rather expensive. The various courses and tests, including tuition fees for driving lessons, can easily reach well over RM1200. I’m sure you’ll agree that a father, with a salary of just under RM370 per month, will be incapable of obtaining driving licenses for all 3 of his children.

Difficult though the odds are, a driving license these days, is a necessary necessity. You cannot do, without a driving license, so they say.

As the story unfolds, I went on to secure my 3 children their driving licenses. I taught my first daughter, S.N. Yap, now 41, and got her driving license way back in the 1980’s. When my son, W.L. Yap, now 35, become 17, it was me who prepared him for his practical test.

Finally, when my 2nd daughter S.L.Yap, now 29, came of age, I sent her for the necessary courses, taught her a few tuition classes for driving and got my good buddy and fellow instructor, Mr. Chandran, who hails from Jalan Telok gadong, in Klang, to take her for her practical tests in Surfine Hitech Academy in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. She passed with flying colours!

Besides teaching all of my own children and securing them their driving licenses, I also went on to obtain driving licenses for my nieces, S.S. Soh and her sister S.Y. Soh and also not forgetting a host of other nieces and cousins too.

Before I forget, talking about my close buddy and fellow instructor, Mr. Chandran, he unfortunately passed away while holidaying in Australia, some few years ago. May his good soul rest in peace!

Talking about how I secured driving licenses for my children and my nieces and cousins, is not the intention of this article in actual reality. This article infact is entitled The Things P license Holders Do To Warrant their Driving Licenses Being Suspended or Withdrawn By The Authorities, that is the Road Transport Department (RTD).

And what readers have been reading up to now, is just a prelude to telling you what I know firsthand about how many of my P students have lost their P licenses, after they have succeeded in getting their hard earned licenses.

I will also relate to you interesting tales which my P students have set out to perform. If they continue to persist in doing such things, I will be the least surprised they will soon land up in lots of trouble or they might end up losing their licenses altogether.

Before continuing with this article any further, I wish to inform readers that I do give advices to both the parents and the students themselves regarding how to drive safely as a P novice driver. And most important of all, they have to drive safely and carefully.

As a P license holder, drivers have to follow quite a few rules and regulations imposed by the Road Transport Department. Otherwise, their P licenses can easily be suspended by the authorities. Will parents as well as the students themselves, heed my advice? To be frank, some do. But there are also some who disregard the advice given.

What good advices do I wish to give?

Amongst some of the good advices this instructor normally give include:

1) Ensure that cars driven by P drivers are affixed with the mandatory P emblems, both infront and at the rear of the vehicles.

2) Always make it a point to stop at junctions and adhere strictly to traffic lights.

3) Avoid drinking and driving.

4) Initially, when a P driver has just obtained his driving license, parents or brothers or sisters should ideally sit beside the P driver to provide him moral encouragement and guide him through the initial stages of receiving his driving license.

5) Students or drivers who have just obtained their P driving license, should ideally gather experience, driving around the town or housing estates where they reside. After which, P drivers can drive further away from the towns where they reside. Avoid driving across interstates, for example, from Selangor to Malacca or from Johore to Perak.

Driving along expressway and highways require lots of experience, which P drivers do not possess. Furthermore, the art of overtaking along expressways is dangerous. It takes some period of time before a driver can overtake successfully and safely.

6) And most important of all, P drivers should follow rules and regulations laid down, to avoid their P licenses being withdrawn, thus helping to avoid a retest, which in turn will cause a lot of hassle and much wastage of time.

Driving School Malaysia blog, frequently receives queries from many of its readers. One very frequently asked question is “Can P license be used overseas, say in Australia, England or even South Korea?”

Another question which readers so often like to inquire is, “for how long a period can Malaysian domestic license be used in a foreign country, like America, Europe and Japan for example?”

My answer to the second question above has always been in the affirmative. Yes, Malaysian domestic license, if it is valid, can surely be used in foreign countries. Under the Geneva Conference 1949 and 1968, it is agreed that all nations, which are signatory to it, have to accept each other’s driving licenses.

Some countries even accept the conversion of foreign licenses into their domestic license. For example, as far as the writer knows, Singapore citizens who go to the United Kingdom for example, can certainly convert their licenses into British license if they so wish. But unfortunately, due to certain reasons, Malaysian drivers, cannot opt for their licenses to be converted into British domestic licenses.

Today’s article will not go on to delve into the reasons as to why Malaysian licenses are not acceptable by the British authorities.

Now, coming back to the question of, “Can P licenses, issued by the Malaysian Transport Authorities be accepted as a license to drive in a foreign country?”

First and foremost, permit me to explain the Malaysian driving license issue to you in greater detail. New drivers who have just passed their practical driving test, will be issued with a “P” or provisional license for a period of 2 years.

After completion of a 2 year probational period, a Malaysian driver will then be allowed to convert his P license into a real or “competent” license which is known as a Competent Driver’s License (CDL).

The Malaysian Road Transport Department accepts or considers the P license as a full fledged license. Bearing this in mind, the P license is therefore a “full” competent license. As such, there should exist no reason whatsoever for foreign countries not to accept the Malaysian P license for use in their countries at all.

With this explanation in mind, readers should be able to comprehend that P license, like “competent” licenses issued by the Road Transport Department, should infact be accepted for use overseas. The only other problem which troubles Malaysian drivers driving overseas, is the question of “for how long can a Malaysian license holder be allowed to drive in a foreign country?”

Whenever I receive queries from readers pertaining to this question of what “reasonable period” is, in most of the answers that I give to my readers no mention of period is given. Unfortunately, I am unable to quote or say what reasonable time limit actually is.

“Reasonable” is something subjective. Each country has its own rules and regulations when allowing foreign licenses to be used in their country. For example, in the United Kingdom, a foreign driver is permitted to drive for a period of 120 days. After that, ideally, a driver should make plans to procure a British driving license should he or she intend to stay in the country longer.

But, if you like a lady driver, who wrote in to this blog recently informing that she had been detained in South Africa for driving there for approximately 7 years, I was shocked! Definitely, 7 years is not a reasonable period at all.

Foreign authorities, I believe, accept use of foreign licenses in their countries. They may even, I believe, accept some “leeway” if a foreign driver should contravene the laws. As a driver, especially in another country we should behave “reasonably”.

Finally, we proceed on to another frequently asked question, which is, “can a foreign driver” exchange his or her license into Malaysian domestic licenses?

As per regulations, foreign licenses can be converted into Malaysian licenses. But of late, the authorities have tightened or rather streamlined the ability to convert foreign licenses into Malaysian domestic licenses.

For example, Indian nationals who wish to convert their licenses now face some problems. It seems Putrajaya, where the Malaysian Transport Authorities are located, will only allow selected categories of professionals, such as doctors and engineers to convert Indian licenses into Malaysian domestic Malaysian licenses. That is the regulation which exists today.

So, if you are a foreigner, say from Indonesia or Australia, who intends to change your country’s domestic license into Malaysian ones, you are advised to seek the Road Transport Authorities help in Putrajaya. Only they can inform you whether you are allowed to convert your license or otherwise.

Best of luck to you in your attempt. If however, for whatever reasons, you are unable to get a Malaysian license via conversion, then the only alternative for you to secure a Malaysian license is by testing for it.

For this, those interested can easily obtain advice through driving schools or institutes that are available throughout the entire country.