Malaysia: Swoop on those who send SMS while driving.

Farrah Naz Karim
PUTRAJAYA, Apr 21:

The days of driving with one hand and sending an SMS (short message service) with the other are over.

Road Transport Department officers have started looking out for drivers engaging in this practice.

Department director-general Datuk Emran Kadir said those doing so were more dangerous than motorists who used their mobile phones without a hands-free kit.

"I cannot believe that people actually do that. It requires them to take a hand off the steering wheel and their eyes off the road as well," he told the New Straits Times today.

Emran quoted an extension of Section 17(A) of the Road Transport Rules 1996 pertaining to the use of mobile phones to send SMS while driving.

It reads: "No driver, while driving on the road, should use, or attempt to use, a hand-held telephone or any other communication equipment unless it is used through a hands-free kit".

First-time offenders can be fined up to RM1,000 or jailed up to three months' on conviction. Second offenders can be fined a maximum of RM2,000 or six months' jail, or both on conviction.The regulation came into effect after an in-depth study on the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving.The number of mobile phone users nationwide has increased from an estimated one million in 1996 to 13 million last year.Emran said the ban extended to the use of walkie-talkies and radio telephones.

He said those suspected of sending SMS while driving would be stopped and their phones checked."It will be obvious if the driver had sent an SMS in the last one minute before being stopped as the 'sent' box would indicate this," he added.

The RTD is also thinking of asking telecommunications companies to furnish details of calls from mobile phones and SMS. Emran said those intending to SMS while driving should stop at a safe spot to do so.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/NST32317849.txt/Article/indexb_html