THERE is a pattern to this madness. They come in a pack of 10 or 20 with blaring motorcycles, turning highways into illegal racing tracks.
They appear from nowhere and disappear within minutes, but within those minutes, they terrorise road users.
According to reports, there are 100,000 Mat Rempit in the country, with each state having at least 5,000.
The ages of these youth range between 12 and 25, with 17 year olds forming the largest group.
A majority of Mat Rempit are drug-dependent and resort to snatch thefts, robberies, rapes and murders to pay for their habit.
They are thrill-seekers who want to live carefree lives.
Mat Rempit are rebellious young people without a cause.
Last month in Taiping, an ambulance driver and a nurse were attacked by Mat Rempit when the driver asked them to make way for the ambulance.
The group rammed the ambulance, and a few teenage boys dragged the driver out of the vehicle and assaulted him.
The nurse, who was with a patient, came out to rescue the driver and was also attacked.
Action needs to be taken against Mat Rempit for obstructing an emergency vehicle.
Streets and highways where Mat Rempit like to race have to be monitored by police.
The public have to be the eyes and ears of the police.
The authorities must rehabilitate and channel the energy of these riders into something useful and beneficial to them and society.
Samuel Yesuiah, Seremban, Negri Sembilan