Since the Ministry of Transport took over operation of the AES speed camera system on Malaysian highways in 2018, a total of approximately 90,000 summons were issued for speeding offences recorded by the cameras. However, out of this total, only 10,000 summons have been paid to date, for a monetary total of RM3 million.
This represents a revenue shortfall of RM24 million, based on a rate of RM300 per summons issued, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Loke was speaking at the launching of the launch of the Ops Bersepadu and Chinese New Year road safety campaign in Dengkil, Selangor.
“Since we did not renew the private contract for operation of the AES, JPJ issued 90,000 summons since September but only 10,000 were paid. You do the math,” said Loke. “The road safety campaign in 2018 recorded 21,041 accidents, compared to 20,572 for the same period in 2017,” he said.
During the Chinese New Year festive period in 2018, 226 road deaths were recorded, against 257 for 2017. Loke said, “In my view, 226 deaths for a two week period during the festive season is still too high and I hope all parties concerned, including road users, will strive to reduce this number.”
From police statistics, for the time period of January to September of 2018, 410,926 accidents were reported on Malaysian roads, while the same period in 2017 had 533,875 accidents, a drop of 23%. A similar decrease was seen in road fatalities during the same period, with 4,823 in 2018 against 6,740 in 2017.
“From now on, there will be no more discounts for summons issued by JPJ for any offences,” said Loke. Listing seven offences – failing to obey traffic lights, overtaking on double line, using mobile phone, cutting queue, failure to wear seat belt, hogging the right-most lane and driving in the emergency lane – where 27,013 summons were issued, Loke asked for all road users to obey the law.
“For this year, I urge police and JPJ to focus their operations on federal and state roads, since this is where the majority of road accidents happen based on previous statistics,” Loke said. For this year’s Ops Bersepadu, which will take place from 29 January to 12 February, 10,000 personnel consisting of 6,140 from police, 1,800 from JPJ, 150 from the Road Safety Department and other supporting agencies, have been mobilised.
Additionally, PLUS will be mobilising more than 5,000 personnel during the festive season to provide highway users with a smooth journey. During the launch of the campaign, Shell Malaysia provided oil changes for 40 motorcyclists and demonstrated their blind spot elimination system for heavy vehicles.
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