Introduce specific offence for fatal reckless driving, says activist

KUCHING (April 4): Parliament has been urged to consider introducing a specific statutory offence of “causing death by grossly reckless or intoxicated driving” to address conduct that demonstrates a high degree of risk-taking and disregard for public safety.

Social activist Voon Shiak Ni said such an offence would provide mandatory minimum sentences for cases involving deaths caused by drunk or reckless driving.

“This is to ensure consistency and act as deterrence and preventive measure to bring down the high figures of fatal road accidents,” she said in a statement on Saturday.

According to Voon, such reform seeks recognition that gross recklessness resulting in death is a serious societal harm that warrants a stronger legal action.

It is also to ensure that justice is not only administered but seen to be proportionate to the loss suffered by victims and their families, she said.

“A life lost on the road is no less valuable because it was taken without intent. The law must reflect the true weight of such loss.”

She said it is high time for Malaysia to confront a painful truth that when reckless or drunk driving takes a life, justice often feels inadequate for the victims’ families.

Currently, such cases are prosecuted under Section 41 or 44 of the Road Transport Act 1987, or Section 304A of the Penal Code — laws that do not require intent to kill, said Voon, who is also a lawyer.

In contrast, she said Section 302 for murder, which carries heavy sentences, requires proof of intent to kill and is therefore rarely applicable in road fatalities.

“Driving under heavy intoxication, illegal racing or repeated traffic violations are not mere ‘accidents’ and are conscious decisions that show a blatant disregard for human life.

“Due to their conscious careless decisions, they killed innocent people on the road and caused families to suffer the tragic loss of their parents and children. The trauma, loss and suffering cannot be compensated in any way as lives are lost,” she said.

Voon cited several cases, including the UiTM Dungun fatal crash which killed three students in 2024, a 16-year-old without a driving licence who killed five people in a crash at Jalan Teo Kui Seng here last year, and a young father of two who was killed by a drunk driver in Klang last week.

Quoting data presented in Parliament earlier this year, she said a total of 6,537 road fatalities were recorded last year, adding that fatalities have remained above 6,000 annually between 2023 and early 2025, primarily involving motorcyclists.

Given this, she said Malaysia needs urgent legal reforms to see heavier sentencing and punishment for fatal accidents to ensure victim impact is given greater weight in sentencing.