Rather recently, an ex-driving student of mine, Eton, came to report to me regarding “loss” of his “P” license. As the story unfolds, his purse had been “lifted” or stolen.

Inspite of my requesting him to be patient a few days longer, Eton being a young man, insisted I took steps to help him secure a Duplicate License immediately.

One week later, when the license was ready, Eton came to my house and showed me his original license. It has been found a few days earlier.

On a serious vein now, how does one lose his / her “P” license? If one does not convert his / her “P” into a C.D.L. (Competent Drivers’ License) within a year of its “Probationary period” expiring, automatically, the “P” license becomes Null and Void.

There was a case of 2 other “P” students (both hardly 18 years old) who beat the red traffic lights in Shah Alam some 2 years back. Luck was not with them that day. J.P.J. stopped them.

Both their licenses were suspended. Both lost their “P” licenses. Luckily, both were given exemption from the Highway Code, their “Pra Ujian” and given “Special Test” for their practical test doing the Part I (Slope), Part II (Side Parking & 3 Point Turn) and Part III (Jalan Raya) all over again.

Both spent over RM800 – RM1000 to do the test all over again. Waste of time and energy. But they deserved it anyway. They had to lose their “P” license in such a manner. Anyway, as you are aware, under the Demerit System, a “P” holder will lose his / her “P” license upon receiving 10 points within a year.

Another story tell of how a “P” license holder went on to lose her license. She was a primary school teacher. Yet, she was ignorant to such an extent she never knew she had to convert her “P” into C.D.L.

Within 1 year of its expiry date, she claimed her instructor never told her the requirement.

So to all you driving instructors out there, do your duty to your students. Do not assume all your students know “everything”. Prevent such unnecessary thing from happening.

Up to date, the student concerned has yet to do her retest. Will she be able to regain her “P” ever again? As an instructor of so many years, I know it’s going to be a daunting task for her to pass her “P” license test again.

Who knows, she may never ever drive again. What a pity indeed!

There are even some students who claim they were busy studying overseas. And when they had completed their education, it was already too late.

As I mentioned earlier in the article, you can be exempted from certain parts of the test.

Whatever the reasons may be for you to have your license suspended or canceled, remember you are bound by Section 29 (i) (b) A.P.J. 1987. Your license should not exceed 3 years after expiry. Only then could you appeal.

As this article is mostly concerned with how a candidate goes on to lose his or her “P”, the mechanism of how one goes about appealing for exemption one’s license not to be suspended will be dealt in greater detail in a later article.

So do remember, my next article will be on “How to appeal to the Authorities with regards to a License getting suspended“.

The above system is meant for the “P” (Probationary) License and the C.D.L (Competent Drivers’ License) holders only. The “L” License holders are not involved as “L” license are temporary licenses.

Many drivers both CDL and P license holder feel that when they are summoned by either the J.P.J or the Police or the Courts, they only have to pay the Fines for the traffic offenses they have committed. This is where they are wrong.

As a matter of fact, the J.P.J. in the Headquarters in Putrajaya, possess a record system whereby points are tabulated to keep track of drivers’ records and the offenses they commit. This is call the “Mata Demerit System“.

The Mata Demerit System is a system originated in 1997 under the Kaedah-kaedah Kenderaan Motor (Mata Demerit). Years of experience have shown the authorities that Malaysian driving public is unconcerned with fines imposed on them.

To them, its like “Have Money, No Problem” concept. What these drivers are afraid of is when steps are taken by the J.P.J, the Police or the Court Authorities to “suspend” them from driving.

Why evolve the “Mata Demerit System”? Among reasons include the high rate of accidents, importance of road safety consciousness, the necessity to follow road regulations and so on.

Briefly, the “Mata Demerit System” revolves around Section 35, 35A, 37 and 38 and the Kaedah-kaedah Kenderaan Motor (Mata Demerit) 1997.

As mentioned / explained earlier elsewhere, (see How P Licenses are suspended) this article plans to explain “How C.D.L (license) is liable to suspension”.

Briefly, C.D.L. holder achieving 15 or more Demerit Points gets a 6 month suspension. A second 15 or more Demerit Points merits a 12 month suspension. 15 or more Demerit Points the 3rd time around gets a 12 month further suspension.

Steps will be taken or suspension of the holders’ license. Remember, though a 2 years period is allowed for the driver to accumulate the above said points.

Can a driver drive during the suspension period. No! Neither can he apply for a license to drive another class of vehicle. The suspension period lasts 1 year.

In fact the J.P.J. has another steps to correct the bad habits and “wayward” ways of such drivers. The P.E.P. (Pendidikan Etika Pemandu) Course is one.

The Ketua Pengarah can direct a driver to attend such a course. After completing attendance successfully of such course, the suspension period could be shortened from 4 – 8 weeks,

Then there is the giving of “Bonus”. Those who have achieved less than 15 points and do not collect any further Demerit Points in the next 24 months following, 7 demerit points thus is deducted.

Finally the is of course the “Penalty” issue of punishing the Driver with a RM2000 fine or a 6 months prison sentence.

All in all, the Demerit Points System has approximately 18 important traffic offenses in its list. Among these deserving 15 Demerit Points are in:

i) driving under influence of liquor / dadah.

ii) driving recklessly / dangerously.

iii) driving with undue care / lack of consideration.

iv) racing.

v) failure to supply breath / blood / urine samples to Police authorities when requested.

10 demerit Points mentioned earlier in another article in this blog and it reiterated one again have due to its importance are:

i) failure to display the “P” Plates in front / rear of the vehicle.

ii) speeding excess of 40 kmj in designated zone.

iii) failure to obey traffic lights.

will lead to the J.P.J, Putrajaya handing you a show cause letter as to why your license should not be suspended.

C.D.L. license holders who receive the above letter of suspension, could appeal for the above to be waived. As to my knowledge, only the Minister of Transport himself possesses the right to grant your appeal.

Other items of the Demerit Point System, although not mentioned here are equally important and are not to be disregarded.

Amongst them are (tyres without treads, overtaking at double line, not possessing license, failure to ensure 0.00 content in the breath / blood / urine level) – All carry a 5 Demerit Points.

Other offenses such as overtaking / obstruction whilst overtaking, failure to give way to ambulance, customs, police and the Fire Brigade, offenses at pedestrian crossing, offenses pertaining to driving on the left side of the road, not stopping at junctions, using the hand phone while driving all carry an 8 point penalty.

Do make a study of the 18 traffic items in the Demerit Point System so as to prevent your C.D.L. license from being suspended.

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