Consumer association calls for Malaysia to follow Swedish laws to prevent drunk driving

This would be an unimaginable action in Sweden. Photo: jp.lt

A traffic-safety check made by the Malaysian police from January 18 to February 1, 2020 showed that in a period of just 11 days, there had been 171 deaths in traffic and 155 fatal crashes. In total there was 16,940 traffic-related crashes – a 10% increase from 2019’s 15,464 crashes.

According to The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) the culprit is often alcohol.

The Malaysian authorities have already tightened the laws of driving under the influence of alcohol – but CAP calls for further restrictions and suggest the authorities to look at Sweden’s laws regarding drunk driving.

“Sweden was a Scandinavian country where it once was tradition to drive while intoxicated. But the Swedish government defeated the drinking culture and replaced it with a culture of sober driving”, says Mohd Mohideen Abdul Kader, president of the Consumers’ Association of Penang, in an independent post on Free Malaysia Today.

Today, Sweden is one of the countries in Europe with the lowest tolerance for driving under the influence of alcohol. A person, who has consumed alcohol, does not drive. The punishment is too severe, according to Mohd Mohideen Abdul Kader. The fines, an intoxicated Swedish person gets if caught drunk driving, are based and calculated according to how much money a person has in the bank.

“In Malaysia, our laws need tightening and, more importantly, the authorities need to ensure that they are implemented consistently and fairly without regard to the status of a person,” says Mohd Mohideen Abdul Kader, president of CAP.

 

Source: Free Malaysia Today

About Sofia Flittner

Journalist • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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