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Malaysia to make child car seats compulsory by 2020: Transport minister

KUALA LUMPUR: Child car seats will be made compulsory for all private cars by 2020, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Tuesday (Oct 30).

He added that the ministry will conduct awareness programmes next year to educate the public on the importance of these seats.

“Our plan is to launch advocacy and awareness programmes by early next year before we can implement the mandatory requirement (child seats) to the drivers,” Loke said.

The initial plan was to impose the mandatory requirement for child seats this year, the minister added, but this was postponed to 2020 following discussions with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research.

“The industry is not really ready yet, (there are) not enough suppliers, not enough stock, and we also want to make the cost more affordable (to buyers),” Loke said in a press conference held after chairing the 59th annual general meeting of the Road Safety Council.

He said the ministry would suggest to the finance ministry not to impose the sales and services tax on child seats.

“Hopefully, the MOF will accept our proposal and if there is any positive announcement, we hope it will be announced this Friday,” he said.

According to a Malay Mail report, Loke said the government has not decided on the penalties for people who don’t comply with the ruling.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia