Following the viral video of a Subaru BRZ drifting between petrol pumps at a Petronas station in Jejawi, the owner of the BRZ and the owner of the petrol station have turned themselves in to the police. Both men were subsequently arrested on charges against endangering the lives of others and possibly causing a fire at a petrol station.
Acting chief of Investigation and Traffic Enforcement Department, Assistant Superintendent Mohd Rizal Emran, said that the two men were arrested at the Arau Police Station at 8.45pm the same day the video went viral. The Subaru BRZ was also seized by the police after the owner turned himself in.
According to Mohd Rizal, the owner of the petrol station confessed that he had indeed organised the stunt and invited his friend to “break in” the station’s ground.
The men have been released on bail but Mohd Rizal stated that both are currently investigated under Section 42 (1) and 81 (2) of the Road Transport Act.
If the men are charged under Section 42, they are in for a tough time. The two men will be facing jail time of 5 years with a minimum fine of RM 5,000 and up to RM 15,000. This is depending on if this is their first traffic offence.
If this is not the first time either man was charged on endangering the life of other road users, they will be facing an even larger fine of RM 10,000 up to RM 20,000 and jail time of 10 years.
The worst part of it all, both men will also have their driving license revoked for at least 2 years. Or if this is not their first offence, then they can kiss their licenses goodbye for a good 10 years.
This spell trouble especially for the BRZ owner who is also a professional drifter by career. As it is, sponsors might already be pulling their sponsorship on the BRZ owner’s drifting career.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
