The dangerous trend of vehicle owners using so-called ‘dummy’ seat belt buckles to disable seat belt alarms is a growing concern as this disregard for a core vehicle safety feature puts lives at serious risk. Worse yet, it’s believed these occurances seem to be on the rise.
According to Negri Sembilan Road Transport Department (RTD) director Hanif Yusabra Yusuf, the most common offence recorded during the recent Special Chinese New Year Operation was - believe it or not - failure to wear seat belts, with 195 violations identified.
Shockingly, they found over 30% of these cases involved the use of dummy buckles—an accessory designed to mimic a real seat belt buckle and silence the seat belt reminder alarm/chime/notifier.
“Their excuse is that it [the seat belt] is uncomfortable or that they forgot, but that is a major offence because it can result in severe injury or death in the event of a road crash. The use of this accessory is seen to be widespread and becoming a trend these days and that is not a good sign and we need to pay immediate attention to this matter,” he said.
Hanif made these remarks following the conclusion of a special road safety operation at the Senawang Toll Plaza, conducted in conjunction with the Chinese New Year festivities.
That said, no further indication of consequences to those found guilty of the offence of using these ‘dummy’ seat belt buckles - such as fines/summonses - were detailed. There is also seemingly little to no action taken against those found to be selling these kinds of car accessories, as even a casual search through a local e-commerce.
Meanwhile, as part of the operation, RTD officers went undercover by boarding 70 buses to assess safety compliance among bus drivers. The findings showed a noticeable improvement in safety awareness, but some violations were still recorded.
Among the offences detected were 31 cases of bus drivers continuously driving on the right lane, 12 cases of picking up or dropping off passengers at unauthorized stops, and 10 cases of operating without a second driver. Additionally, three drivers were caught using mobile phones, two were found smoking, and four failed to maintain proper log books.
The RTD also carried out inspections and audits of bus services at terminals, leading to enforcement actions against 24 buses. A total of 38 notices were issued for non-compliance with the Road Transport Act 1967, along with 12 notices under the Land Public Transport Act 2010.