Getting Fined For Jaywalking In Malaysia

To date, I have well over 450 articles written concerning the driving school industry in Malaysia.

But surprisingly, no article has yet to be written on the question of jaywalking. What in reality is actually jaywalking? As this topic appears to be an important aspect of road safety, I feel this subject in fact should also be addressed and given due consideration.

First and foremost, please allow me to explain to readers of this blog what is jay walking. In large cities in Malaysia, such as Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Georgetown, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu etc, traffic is heavily congested. Pedestrians, who represent part of road users in such large towns and cities mentioned above, will obviously find it very difficult to cross from one side of the busy road to the other.

Permit me to quote you a real life incident which took place near the premises of my institute in Kampung Jaya, Klang recently. According to the story unfolding, a Bangladeshi worker wanted to cross a busy road at 7:00 pm one evening. Having waited for some time beside the road shoulder, he finally became impatient.

Seeing no traffic approaching, the Bangladeshi finally crossed the road and stood at the double lines in the middle of the road. What he did was a very stupid decision. With cars whizzing by him at high speed, it was a matter of time before he would be hit by a passing vehicle. True enough, a car finally hit him. The Bangladeshi suffered multiple injuries but he was lucky to be alive.

Yours sincerely, has been a driving instructor for well over 40 years now. And I know, a student out on a practical road with a J.P.J. official will Fail if he or she does not give way to pedestrian and cyclist on the road.

Coming back to the question of jaywalking, as far as I am aware of, it is an offense for a pedestrian who wishes to cross a busy road or street within a vicinity of a flyover is said to have contravened the laws of our country. Such action by pedestrians tantamount to jaywalking and it is an offense.

Correct, drivers and motorcyclists have to provide the right of way to pedestrians who wish to cross the road. Section 75 of the Road Transport Act 1987 clearly spells out, motorists can be fined a sum of RM300 for violation of the above.

On the other hand, a motorist can also be charged and fined another RM300 for not giving way to school children intending to cross a pedestrian crossing as well. Likewise, the same act also reiterates a pedestrian who does not use a flyover or an overhead bridge within 50 to 100 m from it can be summoned for committing jaywalking as well.

According to reports by the Star Newspaper dated 31st December 2010, pedestrians in Kuala Lumpur were recently booked for attempting to dash across the road rather than using the pedestrian bridge. The above road safety campaign was conducted at the busy Jalan Chow Kit road recently.

The said road safety campaign was jointly organized by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the police. J.P.J. department director, Encik Muhammad Heezan Hassan said the percentage of road accidents involving pedestrians had increased by 50% from January to November 2010 as compared with the same period last year. However, the percentage of serious injuries had gone down by 29.27% though.

DBKL director-general Datuk Salleh Yusuf stressed the importance of following designated lanes for cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. People are advised to follow them rigidly. Otherwise, road accidents are bound to occur, he said.

Datuk Salleh also said, a total of 2.4 million compounds have been used for all types of traffic offenses around Kuala Lumpur city over the past year. I wish to commend the authorities concerned, DBKL and the Police for a job well done. They have done a good job. Syabas!

By | 2012-09-21T20:24:07+08:00 January 4th, 2011|Driving Safety|5 Comments

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5 Comments

  1. Emi January 6, 2011 at 12:23 pm - Reply

    Hi,

    I’m a 19 years old Malaysia which my ‘P’ license will be expired on May 2011. I will be furthering my studies in Perth, Western Australia for two and a half years this February (2011) which left me anotha 3 months to the expiry date of my Probationary Driving License. Well, i would like to ask whether .. is my P license valid for me to drive in Perth in that duration?

    Thank you in advance.

    • Cikgu Yap January 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm - Reply

      Yes, you can use your P in Australia for 3 months balance.

  2. Chee J H February 17, 2012 at 11:49 am - Reply

    1) When car breakdown, the triangle must leave how far from behind car?

    2) If car breakdown at middle of road and no put the triangle at behind car and car behind hit by another car. that will be who fault.

    3) If car breakdown and already shift to road shoulder and no put the triangle at behind car and car behind hit by another car. that will be who fault.

    • Cikgu Yap February 19, 2012 at 9:06 am - Reply

      Leave you triangle approximately 6 – 10 meter behind. For your second problem, even myself as an experienced driving instructor dare not say whose fault it is. I guess we’ll have to allow the courts to make the decision. But in my opinion, I’d say that you were at fault (not placing a triangle behind your car when it broke down). Your 3rd question is similar to question 2.

      • Chee J H February 20, 2012 at 5:27 pm - Reply

        Thank you Cikgu Yap.
        So meaning even i put down the triangle, also need to bring to courts to make the decision. Am I right?

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