That SMS may cost you RM1,000

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: If you think sending an SMS while driving is safer than talking on the handphone, you are wrong.
And if you think Road Transport Department officers, who will pull you up for talking on the phone while driving, will not book you for texting discreetly, you are wrong again.
Noting the rise in the number of motorists using the SMS while driving, the RTD is locking its sights on such drivers.
About 600 motorists were booked last year by RTD officers for reading or sending messages using the Short Message Service while driving. The previous year, about the same number were issued summonses.
RTD enforcement director Solah Mat Hassan yesterday said the actual number of those using the SMS while driving could be 10 times more than those booked by his officers.
He said those booked for using the SMS while driving usually expressed surprise or puzzlement, saying they were unaware it was an offence.
They would then start giving excuses.
"Some will plead and try to get away, saying they did not know it was an offence or that this was the first time they were using the SMS service behind the wheel," he said.
"Using the SMS while driving is more dangerous than talking on the handphone. You would have to concentrate on the message being sent. How can you keep your eyes on the road while doing this?
"We want them to know that the risks far outweigh the need to send or receive a message.
"We want people to stop using handphones while driving — it does not matter whether you are talking or sending an SMS," he added.
A recent study by Monash University, Australia, revealed that text messaging while driving distracted drivers for 12 of every 30 seconds they spent writing the message.
It showed that drivers who took their eyes off the road to write an SMS while speeding were more likely to meet with an accident. It also found that most motorists believed: "It won’t happen to me."
Rule 17A of the Road Traffic Rules 1959 states that no driver, while driving a motor vehicle on a road, shall use a hand-held telephone or any other communication equipment unless it is used through a hands-free kit.
A first time offender, if found guilty, will be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or not more than three months jail. For subsequent convictions, they are liable to a fine not exceeding RM2,000 or a jail term not exceeding six months, or both.
Till the end of last year, the RTD caught 5,600 motorists talking on the phone while driving.