KUALA LUMPUR (July 24): DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng has said mat rempits are a clear and present danger to innocent motorists on public roads and highways and should receive the same punishment as drunk drivers.

In a statement on Sunday (July 24), the member of parliament for Bagan said that mat rempits are clearly a menace to public safety and have endangered both the lives and livelihood of innocent motorists.

Lim's statement came in the light of five persons dying and two being injured in an accident involving illegal racing by mat rempits in Penang recently.

He said data provided by the police showed that the numbers of road users involved in DUI or "driving under influence" of alcohol or drugs were 212 in 2020, 39 in 2019, 191 (2018), 212 (2017), and 461 (2016).

"Figures from the World Health Organization and a global road safety report from December 2018 show that less than 1% of traffic-related deaths in Malaysia are linked to alcohol, one of the lowest rates of road fatalities in the world, compared with the [huge number of] 12,000 deaths in fatal accidents related to mat rempits with drunk driving," he said.

Lim said Malaysian police's data showed that since 2014, DUI cases have contributed to the lowest percentage of deaths from the total number of road fatalities with 2.89% in 2014, 3.41% (2015), 3.31% (2016), 0.86% (2017), and 0.85% (2018).

"Only 69 cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs on Malaysian roads were attributed to fatal crashes between 2011 and July 2021.

"The penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the extent of causing injury without death have been increased to RM50,000 and/or a seven- to 10-year jail term.

"Those driving while intoxicated or on drugs face a minimum fine of RM1,000 (all the way up to RM5,000) and/or a jail term below two years," he said.