Traffic in downtown Kuala Lumpur on March 29, 2012. (Photo: AFP/Saeed Khan)

KUALA LUMPUR: Drivers in Malaysia caught using their mobile phones will face a fine of RM300, Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters on Sunday (Nov 19).

The minister also announced that enforcement personnel and static and mobile cameras will be deployed to catch drivers who use their mobile phones on the road, The Star reported.

We prohibit drivers from using their handphones on the road. We have given them a lot of advice, yet there are many who still do so.

“Focus on the road and not your handphones when you are driving,” Liow was quoted as saying by The Star.

The minister, who was speaking after officiating an event in Sungai Dua, Bentong, added that using navigation apps was allowed but the phone had to be placed on a holder in the car.

According to the Star, the minister said the usage of handphones by drivers is among the 20 offences that would soon be inclu­ded into the Automated Awareness Safety System, a combination of the Automated Enforcement System and demerit points system.

“The accident rates are very high. There were 5,310 fatalities from January to September this year while for the whole of last year, there were 7,152 deaths.

“We want to reduce these figures by 10 per cent every year and it is really challenging,” he said, according to the report.

The minister added that main aim of executing strict enforcement was to save lives and not to penalise road users.

“If none of us break the rules, the roads will be safer for everyone,” he said.

Source: Channel News Asia