Malaysia makes seatbelt usage mandatory for car drivers and passengers including visitors from Singapore

Malaysia made a law in 1978 that says drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seatbelts.

In 2009, they changed the law to include backseat passengers too.Malaysia's Road Transport Department (JPJ) is getting ready to make sure everyone follows this rule all across the country, as reported by The Star newspaper.

Singapore started requiring seatbelts on 1 January 2012.

The head of JPJ, Aedy Fadly Ramli, didn't say when they will start checking that everyone wears seatbelts. But he said right now they are focusing on teaching people why seatbelts are important.

On 11 September 2025, Malaysia started a new campaign called "Klik Sebelum Gerak" (which means "Click Before You Move"). This campaign wants to make roads safer and teach people that everyone in a car - not just the driver - should wear a seatbelt.

The head of JPJ said at a meeting on September 11: "We will soon tell everyone that all passengers in private cars must wear seatbelts. But first, we are starting with this teaching campaign."

Since 1 July 2025, bus drivers and passengers on long-distance buses and tour buses already have to wear seatbelts. This rule is being checked and enforced.

This seatbelt rule only applies to buses made after January 2020. Older buses are given extra time to add seatbelts to their seats.

Malaysia seatbelt laws

From 2009 to 2011, Malaysia gave car owners time to put seatbelts in the backseats of their cars. But some cars didn't have to do this - cars registered before 1995 or cars that couldn't have rear seatbelts installed.

A study by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research found that wearing seatbelts can save lives. It can reduce the chance of dying in a car accident by up to 50%.

Singapore seatbelt laws

In Singapore, there are rules from 2011 that say all drivers and passengers in private cars must wear seatbelts.

If you break this rule and are caught:

• First-time offender: You can be fined up to $1,000 or go to jail for up to 3 months.
• Second-time offender (or more): You can be fined up to $2,000 or go to jail for up to 6 months.

In 2017, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) did a study about seatbelt use in Singapore. SGH looked at information from about 4,600 people who were hurt in car accidents and went to five government hospitals for help.

Dr Wong Ting Hway, who led the study, said: "Our research shows that more than half of backseat passengers don't wear seatbelts. This makes them more likely to get badly hurt." 

The doctor, who works in the hospital's surgery department, also said: "We hope our results will help create safety campaigns aimed at these people because they have a higher chance of getting seriously injured."

According to the SGH website, backseat passengers who didn't wear seatbelts were about 45% more likely to get badly hurt compared to front-seat passengers and drivers. Additionally, more than 30% of passengers traveling between 7am and 10am without seatbelts suffered severe injuries.

A research paper from ScienceDirect.com says that in Malaysia, 9% of people who die in road accidents are car drivers and 13.6% are passengers. The same paper found that seatbelts help a lot - they reduce the chance of front-seat passengers dying by 45% and reduce the chance of getting moderate to serious injuries by 50%.

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