KUALA LUMPUR: The number of traffic offences increased threefold following the cancellation of Automated Enforcement System (AES) summonses before Sept 1, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today.
Loke said during the grace period from Aug 17 to Aug 31, the system, now called Automated Awareness Safety System (AWAS), recorded a total of 15,000 cases compared to the previous average of 5,000.
“We don’t have any intention to punish drivers but we want to ensure drivers are more responsible on the road, besides caring for the safety of other road users.
“There are drivers who broke traffic laws by running red lights and breaking the speed limit.
“We hope that the implementation of the system (AWAS) will reduce the number of traffic lawbreakers on the road,” Loke was quoted as saying by an online news portal.
Loke said the soaring number of traffic offences showed that some drivers wanted to break the law on purpose.
Effective Sept 1, the Road Transport Department (RTD) has taken over the operations of 45 AWAS cameras.
The Transport Ministry, in a statement on Monday, said the 29 and 16 cameras were to record speeding offences and instances of motorists running the red light, respectively.