KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — The government has given private vehicle owners with young children a grace period of until the end of the year to get a child restraint system (CRS) installed.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said in light of the decision, no summons will be issued to vehicle owners whose children are not seated in a CRS.

“We are still at the stage of studying which is the most suitable CRS to use for vehicles.

“So for now, no summons will be issued until the end of the year to vehicle owners who do not have a CRS installed,” Wee told Parliament today.

He said this in response to Umno’s Libaran MP Datuk Zakaria Mohd Edris who asked the government for an update on the status of CRS implementation in the public sector.

Wee added that, for now, the government will stick to its initial decision to make child seats compulsory for private vehicles only, while it continues to study the most conducive way for them to be installed in public vehicles such as buses.

The CRS implementation came into effect on January 1 with Malaysia adopting the United Nations R44 or R129 Standards for CRS.

The guidelines specify four different types of seats: from birth up to 13kg (up to a height of 83cm, approximately 0 to 18 months); 9kg-18kg (71cm and above, approximately 15 months to four years); 15kg-25kg (100cm and above, approximately four to seven years); and 22kg-36kg (up to 135cm, approximately six to 12 years).

As was previously reported, Road Transport Department (JPJ) director-general Datuk Seri Shaharuddin Khalid said that by middle of this year, once enough data has been collected, it will be able to decide the type of summons and offences for those who do not abide with the law on the compulsory use of CSR.

The government under Pakatan Harapan had also said there would be tax breaks for child seats to encourage quicker adoption and assist the bottom 40 income (B40) group.