Ban the Sales of Dangerous Car Accessories
On 6thJuly 2020 newspaper reported Dr.Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim, Director General of The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) urged the government to ban the sale of car accessories that could pose a risk, especially in the event of a crash.
According to Berita Harian, one such item is the dummy buckle, which was originally meant for plus-sized individuals, but has since been misused by people who refuses to buckle up while driving. By inserting the dummy buckle into the seat belt buckle, these drivers can avoid the annoying chimes a modern car emits when the belt buckle isn’t fastened.
MIROS confirmed that the dummy buckle seat belt alarm was not able to activate the airbag when there was a collision impact during accidents.
CAP recent survey shows that these dummy buckles are widely available on various shopping platforms especially at car accessories shops and are priced as low as RM 3.00 to RM 8.00.
The seatbelt remains as one of the most important safety inventions in road safety. It is most effective especially during frontal vehicle collision with an almost 50% reduction of death and serious injury for driver and front passenger.
Even currently, there is no law that prohibits the sale of such products, CAP urges the Ministry of the Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs to enforce the law to ban the said items dummy buckle in the market.
Press Statement, 30 December 2020