MY heart goes out to Safwan Muhammad Ismail and his family. An untimely death for a young man on duty who had his whole future snatched away most cruelly.

He paid the ultimate sacrifice for the uniform he wore while carrying out his duties serving the nation.

There is anger from all walks of life in the way this policeman lost his life and yet there is greatness in how cool heads have prevailed, allowing the law to take its course.

We take our hats off in respect to his loved ones for their resilience and patience while we all wait for the wheels of justice to turn. The investigation, I trust, will be meticulous.

The knee-jerk reaction to enhance penalties in the existing laws on drink driving is to be expected. Still, it needs careful deliberation as the consequences of a law that is too harsh can also create other social problems, especially when mandatory imprisonment is applied without judicial discretion.

The legislative branch would be well advised to seek judicial opinions on the extremity of such laws supplemented with views from the relevant civil society groups. It is better to be thorough on the overall causal effects of any enhancement to the socio-economic structure of society as a whole.

The pre-existing laws are stringent enough and this incident should not be the yardstick to generalise any speculative extremity. We must tread with judicious caution.

I am sure the ongoing investigations will encompass both criminal and traffic offences to ensure that the perpetrator involved faces the full force of the law.

The probe in all thoroughness will ascertain as to where he came from, where he was going and how did he avoid the standard operating procedure (SOP) on the movement-control order (MCO) that was in place, especially in the early hours of the morning.

Who was he drinking with (that is, if the relevance of alcohol consumption is established?) Where did they congregate and why were they together during the MCO?

All those who were with the perpetrator before the accident should be questioned and held accountable if there are elements of contributory negligence by way of flouting the MCO.

The thoroughness of such a probe will send a deeper deterrent message to society.

The probe should also study the SOP on setting up roadblocks and the lighting in the vicinity. Many roadblocks in secluded areas lack sufficient lighting and can be a danger to those manning them. All these should be looked into in ensuring that such an incident never happens again.

Enhancing more severe penalties in any law is not really the answer and as straightforward as it looks, although it may move towards some contributory effect for the solution.

We only have to look at the severity of our drug laws with the capital punishment it carries at the extreme end of the spectrum and link it to the fact that drug use is still a serious problem in our country until today.

We need to find a right balance between the criminality of the law and the social ills within the ambits of a progressive society. It is undoubtedly a difficult task and requires mature and experienced foresight in making the right call.

I hope that Safwan’s ultimate sacrifice will not be in vain but instead it will effectively lead to our roads becoming safer from all the risks faced not only by all enforcement officers on duty but for all road users. – May 6, 2020.

* G. Selva reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.