GO-JEK Driver Might Face 1 More Penalty Other Than Posting the Video Online

Yesterday, when it was revealed that the GO-JEK driver who “kidnapped” a lady was being summoned to LTA for an interview tomorrow (7 February 2019), netizens weren’t exactly happy.

There’s even a petition to LTA to appeal against any charges that the LTA might impose on the driver.

The reason for the driver’s alleged offence? Private hire car drivers can have an inward-facing camera to film the passenger, but the footage can only be used for official investigation: it should never be uploaded to social media sites.

LTA has acted based on a complaint and they are investigating the incident. According to them, they’re looking “into the incident. To get a more comprehensive understanding of the matter, LTA will need to meet up with both the driver and the passenger to hear their respective accounts of the incident.”

Now, discounting any emotions, it’s a fact that the driver has broken the rule, and he might have to face the music.

But there might be just one more consequence that he might have to face.

Video Shows Something Even More Obvious

Many of us remember the “Is it because I’m Chinese”, “You lock the car door” or slanderous words like “hostage” or “kidnap”.

While the latter can be considered slander, it’s highly unlikely that the driver has any chance of taking a defamation case against her since the driver’s reputation isn’t exactly damaged by her words, and she seemed to have spoken out of fear instead of malice.

However, if you’d look even closer, the driver has committed an offence—an offence that many of us are guilty of—without him knowing.

Here, take a look.

See it? To make it even more obvious, go to the video and skip to 1:53. The passenger just moved to the other side of the seat instantly, and that’s the problem.

She wasn’t wearing her seat-belt.

Now, you might just agree with this comment:

Unfortunately, either you don’t have a driver’s license or you’ve forgotten everything you’ve learned in your Basic Theory Test.

When a Passenger Didn’t Belt Up, the Driver Kena

In the list of scheduled offences under the Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS), S/No 6 is this:

Driver failing to wear seat belt

For this offence, the driver will receive 3 demerit points and a fine of $120.

The GO-JEK Abang was wearing his seat-belt, but the passenger wasn’t. And in S/No 10 is this offence:

Driver failing to ensure that every passenger wears a seat belt

Yes, you as the driver is responsible for ensuring that all your passengers belt up. Because technically speaking, you can choose not to move if they didn’t belt up.

For this offence, the driver will receive 3 demerit points and a fine of $120 as well. As for the passengers?

Let’s just say that the commenter above is wrong: the passenger won’t be penalized.

This is precisely why we did this video (skip to 6:33 if the narrator is too ugly for you to handle), whereby we told our viewers to belt up not just for safety, but for the driver’s rice bowl as well.

Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS) Different from Vocational Licence Points System (VLPS)

Now, this is a tad confusing: for normal drivers like us, we have the DIPS, in which should we receive 24 or more demerit points in 24 months, our driving licence will be suspended for 12 weeks (btw it’s different for P-Platers).

This is under the Traffic Police’s jurisdiction and applies to everyone, including private hire car and taxi drivers.

However, private hire car drivers (and taxi drivers as well) has one more system to keep them in check: the Vocational Licence Points System (VLPS).

Just like the DIPS, offences would lead to demerit points and if a driver accumulate more than 20 points in 24 months, his or her vocational licence (note: it’s the vocational license, not the driving license) would be revoked.

The offences are pretty different from the DIPS and serve mostly to protect the passengers: for example, “Verbally insulting, intimidating or harassing a passenger in a sexual manner” carries 5 demerit points while “Driving chauffeured private hire car or taxi with expired vocational licence” carries 21 demerit points, which is an instant revocation.

So, for this seat-belt thingy, it falls under the DIPS with 3 demerit points.

And for video thingy, it falls under the VLPS with 21 demerit points.

The lesson here?

Before you post anything online, take a deep breath. The repercussions might be severe.