LETTER | Have a heart for law-abiding motorists

LETTER | The prime minister has announced that PDRM is giving discounts for traffic offenders in the year 2022 and before. Well, it must be a Hari Raya goodwill gesture.

What I cannot comprehend is why is it that those law-abiding motorists, who faithfully pay up the summons before the deadline, are always shortchanged.

This practice will only encourage offenders to not settle the bill on time.

There has to be a deterrent for traffic offenders from delaying paying their fines.

The best and most logical way I suppose is to have one's name, identity card number and vehicle registration number linked to the Road Transport Department, so that one's road tax cannot be renewed if there is any traffic violation not settled.

In this present age of digital technology, I simply don't understand why this measure is not taken into consideration. With just a click of a button, one can know if the road user carries any unsettled traffic offences.

By and large, if a discount is given to a traffic offender, those who have paid in full their summons in advance, should be given an even better redemption. That only makes ringgit and sen.

I also understand that of late, motorists caught using their handphones while driving will not be compounded, but instead will be hauled to the court where a hefty fine of not less than RM2,000 will be slapped on them.

It seems quite odd that in one instance, discounts are being handed to traffic offenders, while on the other hand, motorists are given a stiffer penalty without any let-off.

Another similar case scenario would be that of a poor person caught stealing from a supermarket, being meted out a substantial jail sentence, while a bigwig under trial for corruption ends up going scot-free due to inconclusive evidence.

Finally, it seems rather puzzling that traffic offenders are still allowed to ply the roads even though they have outstanding dues.

This could be a contributing factor to the high number of accidents and fatalities taking place in Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.