CHUKAI: 165km per hour!
That was the speed one motorist clocked after he was stopped for speeding along the East Coast Highway 2 (LPT2) near Perasing during a special operation by a traffic enforcement and operation team from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman, today.
The two-hour operation from 9am at Km255.2, led by Deputy Superintendent Mustaffa Bakri Salleh, netted over 100 speedsters beating the 110km per hour limit on the treacherous expressway that has claimed 85 lives from 1,991 accidents since it was opened.
"Even we are concerned of the safety of the motorists who have been booked.
"I hope they realise what they are in for by driving at such high speeds which not only endanger themselves and the occupants of their vehicles but also other road users," he said, adding that the operation involved 22 officers and men.
Mustaffa added that police also issued 22 summonses to motorists for other offences like improper registration plates, failed brake lights, and expired driving licences and road taxes.
Meanwhile, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that research had showed that only 30 per cent of motorists complied with the 110km per hour speed limit on the LPT2, with 50 per cent of them driving above 140km per hour.
"This attitude of speeding is a major contributing factor for accidents and fatalities at LPT2. In fact, we have recorded one motorist speeding away at 172km per hour," he said.
Police, he said, were working closely with the Malaysian Highway Authority to install more speed trap cameras along the 104km LPT2, apart from increased safety features and opening rest and recreation laybys to allow motorists to take a break.
On Oct 14, a family of six perished when the Toyota Camry they were traveling in rammed into a goods trailer parked on the emergency lane at Km258.9 of the expressway.