KUCHING: Parents have been urged to take greater responsibility in preventing children who have yet to reach the legal driving age from accessing and operating vehicles.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, said prevention should begin at home, with parents playing an important role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of their children.
“We know parents are careful, but they need to be more careful in finding the best way to ensure children who have not reached the age to drive a car or motorcycle are prevented from doing so,” she said when met with reporters at SMK Santubong today.
She said parents should also have open conversations with their children about the dangers and consequences of driving before reaching the permitted age, stressing that children needed to understand that their actions could have consequences.
Nancy was commenting on a recent case involving a 14-year-old boy who was reported to have driven a car and was involved in accidents at two different locations.
She said, however, it was too early to determine whether there had been parental neglect or whether any action could be taken against the parents, as the circumstances surrounding the case were still being investigated.
“We do not know yet how these children were able to drive the car even though they are not yet qualified to drive. What we need to see is the police report.
“Every case is different, so we want to know how the case happened,” she said.
Nancy said her ministry could not pre-empt the findings of the police investigation, adding that any possible action would depend on whether there was sufficient evidence of neglect or other wrongdoing.
She also added that parents must take practical steps to ensure vehicles could not be accessed or used without permission by children who are still underage.
