Putrajaya: Good drivers get insurance discounts, no markdown in fines for bad ones

PETALING JAYA, Sept 3 — In a bid to produce better drivers, Transport Minister Anthony Loke has proposed today that good drivers be rewarded with vehicle insurance discounts, provided they do not break any traffic laws in a year.

Speaking to a press conference here, Loke said his ministry is in talks with the Malaysian Automotive Insurance Association (PIAM) on how this new system can be implemented.

“Under the demerit system we will suspend the license if a driver has too many offences. However, we also want to reward good drivers with unblemished records. If there are no demerits in one year they might receive an insurance discount.

“We are discussing with PIAM on how we can reward them. One of the ideas they proposed was to the JPJ system with the insurance agencies and give them discounts on their yearly vehicle insurance,” he said, using the Malay initials for the Road Transport Department.

“PIAM representatives told us that these are low accident risk drivers and they should be rewarded. We expect to implement this by next year,” said Loke, adding that this will be akin to a “carrot and stick” approach.

Conversely, Loke has also instructed RTD to do away with the 50 per cent discount on traffic summonses issued by their enforcement officers.

Previously, errant drivers caught will have a two-month grace period to pay RM150 instead of the full amount of RM300.

“We want to educate our drivers to become better drivers. We are not interested in generating revenue from summonses because there are other ways for the ministry to make money — such as [auctioning] number plates.

“If possible, I want zero-revenue from summonses because then our roads will be safe. If I generate a lot of revenue from summonses, this means our roads are full of reckless and irresponsible drivers,” Loke explained.

The transport minister has also promised not to install any more static traffic cameras on highways with a speed limit of below 110 km per hour, while reviewing cameras already installed on highways with a speed limit of 80 to 90 km per hour.

He said the government might remove cameras already installed on lower speed highways which are not located on federal roads.