AES summonses may soon be discounted to RM150

Traffic offenders with outstanding summons obtained from the Automated Enforcement System (AES) may soon be given a discount following a proposal from the Transport Ministry, The Sun Daily reports. Should the proposal – which has been submitted to the cabinet – be approved, a 50% discount will be offered over the next six months.

In phase one, summonses amounting to more than half a billion ringgit were still unsettled. However, the government is willing to cut the amount by half, according to deputy transport minister, Datuk Aziz Kaprawi. A total of two million court cases from the pilot phase of the AES project, are also currently outstanding. Recently, the government was mulling over quashing fines and court cases, with no decision made as of yet.

The discount is reportedly being proposed to make way for the second phase of the AES project. “We are targeting to start the second phase of AES hopefully in March and are suggesting to the Cabinet to give leniency by offering a 50% discount for six months, probably from February, to traffic offenders under AES (phase one),” Aziz said. After the discount period is over however, should summonses remain unsettled, offenders will be brought to court.

“We will suggest to the Attorney-General to initiate the legal action for the outstanding summonses,” Aziz said. Out of 1.91 million summonses issued from September 2012 to April 30 last year, only 264,750 AES compounds amounting to RM76,647,750 have been paid so far. The traffic compound under the AES is set at RM300, while a discount of RM150 can be had for those who pay voluntarily within 14 days.

He explained that the AES is a vital part of the government’s road safety 2020 plan to minimise road deaths. “The AES and several other steps will address the high road fatalities recorded every year. If all steps are not taken including firm traffic enforcement on the road, the death rate by 2020 will be high,” Aziz said.

Rather than highways, phase two of the AES project will see cameras installed at traffic lights and intersections at some 350 proposed locations. According to accident statistics, in 2013, there were 205 crashes at traffic light intersections and pedestrian crossings, with 76 deaths and 129 injuries recorded.

According to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) Red-light running (RLR) violations are said to have decreased by 1.23% a year and 2.2% within six months since the AES cameras were installed at traffic lights. Previously, RLR violations were recorded at 4.29%. Currently, cameras at traffic light junctions are situated in four locations in Kuala Lumpur and Perak.

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