Banteay Meanchey provincial police on Sunday destroyed 232 modified exhaust pipes which had been confiscated from ‘young riders and gangsters’. POLICE
Phnom Penh municipal police chief and deputy National Police chief Sar Thet ordered all district police chiefs in the capital on Thursday to clamp down on the use of exhaust pipes that have been modified to make a loud noise.
Thet said the directive to Phnom Penh district police task forces was not a new thing, but it was necessary to remind them about the issue, which continued to be a problem.
When police detain motorbike riders with modified exhaust pipes, he said, they should only issue a warning.
However, when offenders are caught, Thet said their parents must be requested to sign a contract to promise the offence will not be repeated and the riders must be educated.
In addition, he ordered the police to prevent any motorbike racing and said there was a particular problem in this regard among students in Phnom Penh.
“I only reminded the police to look at this issue again and take action against young people who race motorbikes or ride with modified exhaust pipes especially at night, because it disturbs hospital patients and the elderly,” Thet said.
On Sunday, Banteay Meanchey provincial police destroyed 232 modified exhaust pipes which had been confiscated from “young riders and gangsters”, provincial police chief Ath Khem said when presiding over the event.
He urged the police to continue clamping down on the problem.
A National Police report said: “These modified exhaust pipes make a loud noise which disturbs people’s daily lives and affects public order – and they violate the Road Traffic Law.”
Banteay Meanchey traffic office chief Sorn Koemsuor said the destroyed exhaust pipes were confiscated by provincial traffic police and police task forces from nine towns and districts in the last five months.
He said the police did not punish the offenders but only asked them to sign a contract promising not to repeat their illegal activities.
Koemsuor said Article 66 of the Road Traffic Law stated that traffic police must ban such motorbikes from the road or hold them for a period of not more than three days for inspection and modification.
