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KUALA LUMPUR: The city police will crack down on people who drive electric scooters (e-scooters) on public roads starting January 1.
The head of the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Control and Investigation Department, Zulkefly Yahya, said that his department had been receiving many complaints from the public about the danger posed by electric scooters on the road.
“The use of electric scooters on the road is not allowed. They are a nuisance for other road users, as well as dangerous as they can cause accidents.
“These people (electric scooter drivers) can only ride in posted areas, that is, in playgrounds and permitted areas in shopping malls,” he told reporters here.
He said that users of electric scooters would have to apply for a special permit from the director general of the Department of Road Transport (JPJ) if they wanted to use them on public roads.
“So far, the police have identified three areas in the city where scooters are being actively used: around Dataran Merdeka, KLCC and Bukit Bintang,” he said, adding that currently the police are only advising users to stop driving them.
Zulkefly said that as of January 1, action could be taken under the Road Transport Law, with fines imposed on errant people.
The use of electric scooters, categorized as micro mobility vehicles, became popular in May.
They are readily available and allow pedestrians to move quickly from one location to another.
