KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke voiced his disappointment today at soaring traffic offence cases after the Automated Enforcement System (AES) was waived prior to September 1.
Loke said during the exemption period from August 17 to August 31, the amount of offending vehicles caught by the system now called Automated Awareness Safety System (AwAS) shot up to 15,000 from the previous average of 5,000.
“Our intention is not to punish but to educate and ensure errant drivers are responsible not just for their own safety and lives but also other road users. We know there are irresponsible drivers who run red lights and speed.
“We will strictly enforce this issue with hopes of lowering the number of errant drivers,” he told reporters after visiting the system’s control centre here.
“Previously the daily average was 5,000 vehicles captured. This shows that there are errant drivers who want to challenge traffic laws,” Loke added.
He announced earlier that the Road Transport Department (RTD) will no longer offer discounts for compounds or fines, although the police may still continue to do so for traffic offences.
To ensure that foreign cars entering the country will abide by Malaysian traffic laws, Loke is also in the midst of studying a new Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) to be issued to foreign vehicles entering Malaysian borders.
“Foreign vehicles coming into the country will have to register a VEP. If these foreign drivers commit a traffic offence, they cannot leave the country until they have settled their summons. However we will need time to implement this.
“Our first phase will be the Malaysia-Singapore border and it will be implemented this year. For other borders such as Thailand, that will fall under the second phase,” he said.
Regarding official government vehicles, Loke said only three categories are exempted from being summoned by the RTD. These are official royal vehicles, the prime minister's official vehicle and the deputy prime minister's official vehicles.
“If a minister or deputy minister's vehicle breaks traffic laws, [the driver] will be issued a summons. There will be no exceptions. So, a minister's driver must be a good driver and not break any traffic laws,” he added.
