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The crash at the Bukit Kajang toll plaza was every parent’s nightmare. A lorry with failed brakes rammed into several cars. Amid the chaos, a 12-month-old baby was flung from a vehicle and killed. When Transport Minister Anthony Loke later confirmed that the child was not in a car seat, netizens pounced on him for “blaming the parents.”
I understand the anger. No grieving family deserves to be shamed in public. But let’s be honest: Loke wasn’t wrong to point out the absence of a child seat. That’s not victim-blaming, that’s stating a fact - a fact that cuts to the heart of why we have laws in the first place. Laws exist to protect us from our own complacency. Unfortunately, in Malaysia, laws often remain words on paper because enforcement is weak or inconsistent.
How We Got Here
The child restraint system (CRS) law was gazetted in 2019 and made mandatory in January 2020. The rule is straightforward: children under 12, below 36 kg, or shorter than 136 cm must be secured in an approved car seat.
When the law was introduced, the ministry offered a six-month “educational phase.” Drivers caught without child seats were let off with warnings, not summonses. Loke himself said enforcement must follow after that, or the law would become a mockery. But here we are, five years later, still living with the mockery.
Complaints came in thick and fast when the rule was announced. Parents said child seats were too expensive. Families with three or four small children argued their cars couldn’t physically fit that many seats. The government adjusted the policy - exempting families with four or five children from using child restraint system (CRS) devices. And just like that, enforcement fizzled. The Malaysian Medical Association has since pointed out the obvious: the law exists, but it has never really been enforced.
Why Bring It Up Now?
So why is Loke raising the child seat issue now? Cynics will say it’s convenient, a way to deflect blame from the lorry company’s failed brakes. But I don’t see it that way. He is right to remind us of what a child seat can do. Studies have shown they reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 to 80 percent compared to using only a seatbelt. In this tragedy, a child seat might have made the difference between life and death.
Still, Loke cannot escape responsibility. He has been the Minister of Transportation long enough to enforce the very law he championed. If enforcement had been consistent from 2020, would we still be in a situation where many Malaysians casually skip child seats for short drives? Would it still be normal to see toddlers bouncing in the front passenger seat, waving at the cars next to them?
Beyond Tragedy
We can’t change what happened at Kajang, but we can demand better. Enforcement isn’t just about writing summonses. It’s about political will, public education, and financial support. If cost is a barrier, then subsidise seats for B40 families. If cars can’t fit three seats across, then address it honestly - don’t just look away. If awareness is low, then keep hammering the message until every parent knows a child seat is not optional.
The minister is right: child seats save lives. But laws that aren’t enforced don’t. If Loke wants to talk about child safety, good. Let him start by enforcing the law his ministry introduced five years ago. Until then, his reminders will sound less like leadership and more like lip service.
Fa Abdul (fa.abdul.penang@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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