Malaysian mother fined US$379 after underage son’s car crash claims 3 lives

A Malaysian mother who allowed her underage son to drive her car, which later got into an accident claiming three lives, was fined 1,500 ringgit (US$379) by the Magistrate’s Court in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan state.Magistrate Nurul Azuin Mohd Talhah also ordered 40-year-old Nur Farahidayah A Rahman to be jailed for three months in the event she was unable to pay the fine.“After considering the guilty plea by the accused, mitigating factors and submissions by parties and the aggravating factors, the court hereby fines the accused 1,500 ringgit, in default three months’ jail,” Nurul Azuin ruled.Nur Farahidayah was charged with allowing her 17-year-old son to drive her car along Jalan Persiaran Senawang 1 intersection in Taman Matahari Heights around 8.30pm on March 6 last year.She was charged under Section 39(5) of the Road Transport Act 1987, which carries a fine of up to 2,000 ringgit or a jail term not exceeding six months or both upon conviction.Her counsel, Johan Radzi, pleaded with the court to impose a minimum fine as she was a single mother and had to provide for her parents and six children, with four still in school.He said the accused was self-employed and had been running a food business for the past 20 years.