JPJ mulling over using one’s birthday as the expiry date for a driving licence

Hands up, those of you who’ve forgotten to renew your driving licence when it has expired. I’m guessing there must be great many who have done just that, driven around for days, weeks, months even without realising that said licence is pretty much useless. The record I know of is four months, accomplished by the other half last year before she took it out one day and went oops.

Which isn’t a surprise, really. Chances are you only whip out the licence when asked to, usually by the police and at some roadblock, at which point it’s a little bit late to say oops. According to a report, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said this was the excuse many drivers used, that they had forgotten to renew their licence, when they were caught driving with an expired one.

So, the Road Transport Department is mulling over whether to use one’s birthday as the expiry date for their driving licence. If such a system is implemented, there’s no change to the maximum duration a licence can be renewed, which is five years.

“If the holder’s next birthday is less than six months after the expiry date of their licence, the fee for the period will be free of charge,” Kong told reporters at a press conference today, adding that if the period between the holder’s next birthday and the expiry date of the licence was more than six months, the rate will be 50% of the annual renewal fee.

Wonder if that really will change things and make people remember any better. Speaking of which, have you checked your driving licence lately?

© 2011 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 19 Jul 11 17:37:22 +0000.

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