Vehicles with modified silencers can be seized for one month

Police have amended regulations to empower the law enforcement agency to seize vehicles with modified silencers to create loud and menacing noise for up to one month.

The amendments come after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu instructed state institutions to implement stronger measures to ensure road safety, after a young man died in an accident near the Central Park in Hulhumale’ last weekend.

The amendments in question were made on Tuesday to the Regulation on Vehicles in Police Custody – a regulation drafted under the Land Transport Act.

The amendments state that vehicles seized for having silencers modified to emit menacing noises will not be released from police custody until the modifications are undone.

It states that vehicles that are towed after owners fail to rectify modifications to the silencer despite being told to do so will need to be restored to its original state within 15 days.

Meanwhile, the police are now required to destroy menacing modification devices installed in vehicles, after which the vehicles will be released in 30 days.

The police are also empowered to:

• Hold illegally parked vehicles for up to 48 hours
• Tow modified vehicles for up to 15 days if the owner of the vehicle fails to follow instructions to undo the modifications
• Hold vehicles involved in reckless driving for up to 30 days.

The Maldivian capital has seen a string of dangerous accidents in recent weeks, some of which have resulted in fatalities.

The spike in accidents has prompted the police to deploy a greater number of traffic police to patrol the streets of the capital. The police have said they will begin using motorcycles to patrol the Sinamale’ Bridge this week, to speed up response to accidents.

The police have received reports of 1,933 road accidents so far this year, with over 200 accidents reported each month.