Bukit Aman moves to profile drivers, companies and vehicles in drug- and drunk-driving crackdown

Bukit Aman moves to profile drivers, companies and vehicles in drug- and drunk-driving crackdown

Bukit Aman JSPT director Datuk Seri Muhammed Hasbullah Ali said the initiative is being refined as part of proposals to tighten enforcement, including ensuring companies that employ such drivers are also held accountable for offences committed. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) will develop a profiling system involving drivers, companies and commercial vehicles to strengthen efforts to curb drug- and alcohol-impaired driving.

Bukit Aman JSPT Director Datuk Seri Muhammed Hasbullah Ali said the initiative is being refined as part of proposals to tighten enforcement, including ensuring companies that employ such drivers are also held accountable for offences committed.

“We are in the process of developing a profiling system for individuals, companies and vehicles, and are working with the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), while also submitting proposals to the government to strengthen laws so that not only drivers are penalised, but companies that hire them are also held responsible,” he told a press conference at Bukit Aman today.

Muhammed Hasbullah said the move follows an increasing trend of commercial vehicle drivers being detected driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, posing significant risks to road safety.

He said that under the current Road Transport Act 1987, legal action is taken against individuals who commit offences, but the department is also proposing that employers or companies be held responsible.

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Muhammed Hasbullah also advised transport companies and commercial vehicle owners to conduct regular monitoring of their drivers, including urine screening tests, to ensure employees are not involved in drug abuse.

Meanwhile, he said 121 lorry drivers were among 135 individuals detained after testing positive for drugs in 44 joint operations targeting commercial vehicle drivers along the North-South Expressway and East Coast Expressway from April to June.

He said the figure was recorded from 713 urine screening tests conducted during the operation period, with 135 individuals detained in total.

“Nearly 90 per cent of those detained were commercial vehicle drivers, involving 121 lorry drivers and 14 others,” he said.

Muhammed Hasbullah said methamphetamine was the most commonly detected drug among lorry drivers in these operations, and based on current trends, some drivers are believed to be using illicit substances as a shortcut to sustain long driving hours.

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He said the operations, conducted by JSPT with cooperation from the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) Narcotics and the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK), focused on trailer drivers, lorries, express buses, workers’ buses, school buses and vehicles carrying hazardous materials. — Bernama