a day ago
- Automotive
- Free Malaysia Today
Govt bans import of dummy seat belt buckles
Dummy buckles are inserted into belt slots to prevent the alarm from triggering whenever a seat belt is not worn. (File pic)
PETALING JAYA : The government has moved to ban the import of mechanisms such as dummy buckles and seat belt alarm stoppers, effective Dec 31.
The move was announced through the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025, published in the federal gazette.
The order prohibits the import of 'dummy buckles, seat belt alarm stoppers, seat belt clip extenders or any other similar accessory or device intended to be inserted into a seat belt buckle to disable or bypass the safety reminder and render the seat belt mechanism inoperative'.
The transport ministry previously said it was in talks with the domestic trade and cost of living ministry to introduce a ban on dummy buckles, following concerns over their widespread use to silence seat belt alarms.
During a Chinese New Year traffic operation in Negeri Sembilan, authorities found that nearly 30% of 195 offenders caught for not wearing seat belts had used dummy buckles to avoid triggering the warning alert.
