PUTRAJAYA: The Road Transport Act of 1987 will be amended to increase the punishment for offences involving the modification of motorcycle engines and exhaust pipes from RM300 to RM10,000.
Under a new provision in the act, those participating in illegal motorcycle racing face a jail term if found guilty in court.
The proposed amendments also seek to penalise irresponsible parents who allow their children to modify their motorcycles for illegal racing, as well as workshop owners who carry out the task.
Transport Ministry secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak said the proposed amendments were in the "good regulatory practice" (GRP) stage, which involves engagements and consultations with stakeholders.
"It is necessary to raise the fines because many youngsters blatantly break the law and join motorcycle races nowadays.
"They can afford to pay the RM300 fine and that is why we propose to push the penalty to RM10,000 to raise awareness about the dangers of illegal racing.
"Furthermore, parents who allow their children to use bikes for illegal racing and workshop owners who modify the bikes will also be slapped with compounds.
"Besides giving bikers a sense of self-gratification, illegal racing could also lead them to indulge in unhealthy activities," he told BH.
Isham expected the proposed amendments to be tabled in Parliament in the third quarter of next year.
The ministry, he said, wanted the amendments to go through the GRP stage to ensure that the law could be implemented effectively after taking into account the views of all parties.
"We do not want to make a U-turn after introducing the new regulations. We want them to be implemented effectively with the support of a majority of stakeholders."
Isham said illegal racing should be defined more broadly than just participation in such races.
It should include modifying exhaust pipes and engines to ride dangerously or performing dangerous stunts on the road, he added.
He said effective enforcement was crucial to curbing road accidents that involved motorcycles.
In the last 10 years, fatalities involving motorcyclists and pillion riders comprised 60 per cent of the total deaths that occurred due to road accidents.
As such, Isham said, raising the fines, coupled with effective enforcement, was the best way to educate road users, especially illegal racers.
On a related development, Isham said the ministry would propose for separate motorcycle lanes to be designated on all state and federal roads.
He said the ministry had discussed the proposal with the Local Government Development Ministry and local councils, and would submit the plan to the National Physical Planning Council (MPFN) next year.
Under the Road Safety Plan 2022-2030 launched in January this year, the government aimed to halve the number of fatalities caused by road accidents by 2030.
Under the plan, Isham said, the ministry had made the anti-lock braking system (ABS) mandatory for all motorcycles 150cc and above, starting Jan 1, 2025.
"The statistics show that most accidents occur because motorcyclists lose control of the vehicle during a road mishap. With the ABS in place, they can have a better grip on their vehicle."
In 2020, the police recorded 418,237 road accidents, including 4,634 deaths. Between January and September last year, there were 255,532 accidents with 3,302 deaths.