KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council has suggested that a sentencing council be set up to provide a guideline on punishments for motorists who cause accidents involving death.
With the existence of the council, Council president Lim Chee Wee said, punishments meted out to offenders would fit the offences.
He said it was not proper to impose a mandatory sentence on an offender who causes an accident involving death as the merits of each case have to be reviewed.
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| Lim |
"The discretion of the judge must not be restrained. Punishments are not just to punish but also to rehabilitate (the traffic offenders)," he said.
On Sunday, Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye suggested that a mandatory jail sentence be imposed on those who drive in a dangerous manner and cause accidents which result in death.
Lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, who shares Lim's views, claims a mandatory sentence is unsuitable as road accidents are not heavy offences like drug distribution and murder.
"It is more appropriate to impose a heavier sentence on a reckless motorist," he said.
Nevertheless, Malaysian Road Safety Council Research Institute (Miros) director-general Associate Professor Dr Wong Shaw Voon said a mandatory jail sentence is a deterrent.
He said the punishment, however, should not be arbitrarily imposed without scrutinising the offence based on its level of seriousness.
He said a mandatory sentence, if implemented, would enhance the awareness of motorists to be more careful and prioritise safety when on the road.
Peninsular Malaysia Road Transport Officers Union president Hamzah Masri said he hopes more awareness campaigns will be held to boost understanding of the laws, to make them more effective.
Lee, in defending his proposal, said mandatory jail sentences are the best move to check increasing deaths from accidents each year.
"Deaths from accidents went up to 6,282 in 2007, 6,527 in 2008, 6,745 in 2009 and 6,872 in 2010. Sixty per cent of the dead were motorcyclists," he added.
Lee also said mandatory jail sentences had been implemented in Australia, and that the time has come for Malaysia to adopt the regulation.
-Bernama