Some of the modified bicycles that were seized by police in Johor to stop the Mat Lajak menace. — filepic

Mayor A. Rahim Nin said MBJB reviewed the existing laws to overcome the problem that persists despite the tragedy where eight teenage cyclists were killed after a car ploughed into them in February.

“Under the Road Transport Act 1987, bicycles are categorised as a type of vehicle and as such bicycles are subject to traffic laws too.

“Based on this, MBJB will be submitting an application to the Transport Ministry to amend the Act to confer the council the power to ban vehicles from utilising certain roads at certain times.

“In this aspect, we will restrict cycling activities by children or teenagers below 18 years at night,” he said during MBJB’s full council meeting here.

He added that a provision under the law also states that a penalty of not more than RM1,000 or jail term of not more than three months or both can be imposed on those who flout the ruling.

“We will decide on a suitable punishment for teenagers or parents who fail to abide by the proposed rule,” he said.

It was reported that police have been on the lookout for teenage Mat Lajak roaming the city streets after eight boys died and another eight were injured in the incident that occurred at 3am on Feb 18.

Rahim also said that MBJB would amend its bylaws for neighbourhoods and Dataran Bandaraya Johor Baru to forbid underaged children from loitering without parents’ supervision after 6pm.

“For this, we will hand over a proposal to the state government and await their feedback and approval before we enforce it,” he said, adding that such measures were necessary as reports of Mat Lajak being a nuisance were still surfacing.

He stressed that the council viewed the matter seriously and held discussions on this during its recent Safe City meeting.