"ILLEGAL racing" needs to be clearly defined. It should be able to spell out in detail if the activity covers independent motorists zigzagging their way through traffic at high speed and in a dangerous manner, or includes planned illegal racing events involving willing individuals on pre-identified highways, with or without voluntary spectators.
One is a reckless extemporary action and the other a coordinated antisocial activity. Both are menacing, a real nuisance and need to be stopped.
Definitions are necessary, experts say, if amendments are to be made to Section 42 of the Road Transport Act 1987. Expected to be tabled next year, it seeks to impose heavier penalties on illegal racing hooligans.
Last week, Transport Ministry secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak said the heavier penalties would see the minimum fine for illegal racing raised from RM300 to between RM5,000 and RM10,000, alongside a jail sentence.
By extension, "illegal racers" should cover all vehicles that are operated illegally and beyond the permitted speed limit on public roads — from "kapcai" motorbikes speeding in the neighbourhood back alleys to luxury cars driven fast and furious on major highways.
Both threaten public safety equally. There is also the growing threat of "basikal lajak" (modified bicycles with no brakes) races, which should also belong in the category of such a traffic offence.
In 2017, a car mowed down and killed eight teenagers aged between 13 and 16 who took part in the activity. It was reported that the 3.20am race actually had 30 participants, all of them teenagers.
The proposed amendment will also target parents who allow their children under 18 to join illegal races. Under the current legal system, parents can be hauled to court for child negligence under the Child Act 2001 if their underage children are active participants in illegal races. So far, the law has been used to charge parents in child abuse cases.
However, Section 31 of the Child Act also protects children from emotional harm, such as being unsupervised, abandoned and neglected by parents "in a manner likely to cause him physical injury". With the amendment, there could be an additional charge from the road safety aspect.
The other two parties that can be found guilty through their proven association with the activity following the amendment are the workshops where the vehicles are taken to be souped up, as well as the willing spectators and supporters.
There are still a lot of areas to be covered to make the law watertight. After all these years, we want to see the law finally having real teeth to make it a serious deterrence.
The amendment to the Road Transport Act 1987 aims to put an end to the "mat rempit" (illegal motorcycle racers) menace. But racers on Malaysian roads these days are more than just these thrill-seekers on kapcai bikes.
Speeding luxury cars are also common on Malaysian roads. In September last year, four men were detained for allegedly speeding against traffic in their high-powered rides on the Shah Alam Expressway.
In March, a convoy of luxury cars was involved in a crash along the North-South Expressway. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Viral videos of speeding flashy rides on highways are tragedies waiting to happen.
