A Lorry Driver Got A 'Saman' For Wearing Ripped Jeans. Wait, What?
The incident happened in Jalan Kuching, Kuala Lumpur.
By Tang Ruxyn — 08 Dec 2016, 11:18 AM
A lorry driver recently received a police summons. His offence? He was not "neatly dressed" (pakaian tidak kemas).
A viral post consisting of two images has been circulating on the social media. One of the images is a photo of a police summons issued to a lorry driver while the other is an image of a leg in ripped jeans.
It has been speculated that the police issued a summons to a man because he allegedly wore ripped jeans while driving a lorry.
The summons was issued on 22 November at 11.15am at Jalan Kuching, Kuala Lumpur. It is noted that the offender was ordered to appear in the Jalan Duta magistrate's court on 21 January and he could be fined RM200 for the offence.
The allegations drew the ire of netizens who thought that the police should not have issued such a summons
However, the authorities have urged the public not to jump to conclusions regarding the matter
English daily The Sun reported that City Traffic Investigation and Legal Affairs staff officer Deputy Supt Shafie Daud did not deny there is a possibility that a summons can be issued to motorists for dressing indecently.
However, he stressed that there is a need to verify if the summons was issued because the driver was wearing a pair of ripped jeans.
"Yes, we have a law on this matter especially in accordance with the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987."
"For instance, if you are driving a commercial vehicle like a lorry, wearing sandals and slippers is an offence but in this case, we are not sure whether the torn pants is actually linked with the summons issued," he was quoted as saying.
So, is it really true that people can actually get fined for "dressing inappropriately"?
In June 2015, it was reported that the police had issued a summons to a lorry driver for wearing slippers, as he failed to comply with the dress code that is being imposed on heavy machinery operators.
According to Section 15(B) of the Road Traffic Rules 1959 (LN 177/1959), a driver or a public service vehicle conductor would have committed an offence if he or she does not keep a clean and neat appearance.