Road Transport Act 1987

The Road Transport Act 1987 is the Malaysian statute that governs motor vehicle use on public roads, including the rule that makes third-party motor insurance compulsory.

Section 90 makes it an offence to use a vehicle without a valid third-party insurance policy, and Section 96 requires the insurer to satisfy a court judgment for death or bodily injury once a certificate of insurance has been issued.^[1] This is the legal basis for a third-party bodily injury claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer.

Because of this Act, an injured road user is usually pursuing the insurer’s obligation to pay, rather than the driver’s personal finances.

The Act also restricts an insurer from avoiding this liability on certain technical grounds, such as a driver’s licence irregularities, once a third party has already been injured.