KUALA LUMPUR – Forgetting to buckle up could soon come with more than just risk to life — it may soon cost drivers and passengers a fine.
The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has announced plans to enforce the mandatory use of seatbelts for everyone in private vehicles nationwide, in what officials say is part of a broader push to strengthen road safety culture.
Director-General Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli said the department has begun rolling out advocacy campaigns, including the newly launched “Klik Sebelum Gerak” (“Click Before Moving”) initiative, before setting a firm date for enforcement.
“We will announce the enforcement of seatbelt use for passengers of private cars in due course. For now, we are beginning with the ‘Klik Sebelum Gerak’ campaign first,” Aedy Fadly told reporters yesterday.
Under existing law, anyone caught not wearing a seatbelt faces a fine of up to RM300. The rules already apply to express and tour bus drivers and passengers, with enforcement for buses beginning in July this year.
According to research by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), seatbelts can cut passenger fatalities in accidents by as much as 50%. Officials say this evidence underpins their push to make buckling up a norm rather than an afterthought.
“Seatbelts help keep drivers and passengers securely seated during a crash, unlike those without seatbelts who are at a significantly higher risk of injury,” Aedy Fadly said, adding that JPJ would continue awareness drives, inspections and public campaigns to boost compliance.
The department has already started issuing summonses to bus passengers who fail to wear seatbelts, though older buses are being given time to retrofit the safety devices.
For now, officials are banking on persuasion rather than punishment, but the message is clear: in Malaysia’s roads of the future, no passenger will be exempt from buckling up. — September 12, 2025