New penalties to discipline erring motorists

PENALTIES under the new regulations that will be introduced when the new format driving licences, road tax and vehicle registration books come in next year will encourage motorists to be more disciplined when it comes to renewing these documents.

The penalties include charges for late renewals of the licences and vehicle registration books (previously known as the Blue Card) and fines of up to $1,000 for violations of the new regulations.

Previously, "we faced a lot of problems" relating to late renewals of these documents, Assistant Director of the Land Transport Department (LTD) Harun Hj Hujan said in an interview on the sidelines of the department's roadshow on the new documents at the driver's training and testing circuit in Kg Sg Akar.

Under the new regulations, motorists whose licences have expired for more than 60 days will have to pay an additional late charge of $10 when they eventually renew it. Meanwhile, late renewals of the vehicle licence (road tax) will incur a late charge of 10 per cent of the road tax renewal price for the first month, 20 per cent for two months, 30 per cent for three months, and so forth.

Drivers who fail to comply with the regulations relating to the driving licence, vehicle licence and vehicle registration book will be fined not more than $500 for the first offence and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offences.

If a driving licence has expired by more than three years, the holder of the licence will have to retake and pass the driving test "to ensure that the driver still possesses driving skills, including knowledge of new regulations" he said.

"So when we introduce the system (of penalties), automatically the public will be more disciplined, no longer delaying in renewing (their documents)," the assistant director told The Brunei Times.

Harun noted that previously, the absence of such fines and penalties had encouraged drivers to be "careless", particularly with their Blue Card.

The new format driving licences (which will be plastic instead of paper as in the past), the vehicle licence and the vehicle registration book are more durable that their predecessors.

"With the fine, people will be aware and will no longer be careless, InsyaAllah," he said.

The duration of the driving licence has also been extended and will be valid for five years or 10 years. The licences will cost $50 and $100, respectively.

The LTD is currently holding talks with mobile service providers to establish a notification system to remind drivers to renew their licences when the expiry date draws near.

"At the moment, we are negotiating with Telbru and DST to come up with a system (to remind motorists), for example, one month before it (the licence) expires."

With the system in place, "InsyaAllah, the issue of people forgetting will not surface".

The Brunei Times