KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Parents are to be blamed for the deaths of their children in motorcycle accidents.

Bukit Aman traffic police chief SAC Mohd Fuad Abd Latiff said statistics showed that 127 youths below the age of 15 had died in motorcycle accidents from January to March.

“Parents are the ones killing their children. Despite knowing their children do not own motorcycle licences and have not attended lessons, they allow them to ride motorcycles unsupervised,” he said.

Of the 1,512 fatal accidents during the period, 1,014 involved motorcyclists.

“Parents need to realise that even adults who possess driving licences can get involved in accidents, what more young teenagers,” he said.

He said complications could arise when people ride motorcycles without licences, including the difficulty in making insurance claims.

Mohd Fuad also said more foreigners had been killed on the roads, with 55 deaths recorded so far this year.

To reduce crime and road accidents, the department has been carrying out regular operations nationwide. Since September last year, police have inspected more than 636,000 vehicles and checked 531,135 individuals.

“From this number, we arrested 94 individuals, including 49 foreigners, for traffic-related offences,” he said.

Mohd Fuad said police had conducted 314 operations nationwide targeting “Mat Rempit”, 105 of whom had been arrested under the weekly operation which began in January.

Seventy-six of them have been charged under Section 42 of the Road Transport Act 1987 for driving in a dangerous manner.

He also said car owners who did not comply with the rules on vehicle tinting and standard number plates would be served with a RM300 compound from June 15.

According to the law, a vehicle must have 70 per cent light penetration for the front windscreen, and 50 per cent for the rear and side windows.

“We will conduct a nationwide operation before the fasting month, when offenders, including those with arrest warrants for not settling their summonses, will be compounded or arrested,” he said.