AES continues to draw flak

The Automatic Enforcement System continues to draw flak from Pakatan Rakyat leaders today, with PAS saying speeding is not the only cause of road deaths.

“Road conditions, long distance driving, lack of rest areas, and inefficient public transport which contributed to more vehicles on the roads and road users' attitude in not following regulations have all contributed to the rise in accidents,” said information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

He said the outcry over AES had to do with the public's belief that it was profit-oriented and not for prevention of accidents.

As such, Tuan Ibrahim said road users were disappointed with the statement by deputy Transport minister Rahim Bakri, who said the AES's implementation would go ahead despite public complaints.

Tuan Ibrahim said for turning a deaf ear to public outrage, the people should use the ballot box at the coming polls.

“The longer BN rules, the more pressure there will to ordinary people. In eight days, 63,558 summonses have been issued despite having the cameras at only several locations,” he said, and remarked that the revenue from AES could eclipse the country's oil and gas revenue, "only that this one comes from the people’s pocket”, he quipped.

Mahfuz Omar, who heads PAS's Anti-Saman Ekor Campaign or KASE said the argument by the authorities that AES was a holistic approach to bring down road accidents was unacceptable.

He cited the findings of a study by a group of researchers in United Kingdom who found that more traffic mishaps take place in cities with more speed cameras. The study, said Mahfuz, had found that Swindon had UK's safest roads despite scrapping speed cameras.

"It's not only about the speeding," said Mahfuz, who said in some countries, motorists could be penalised for driving below a certain minimum speed.

Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok meanwhile hit out at the Transport ministry for snubbing public opinion.

"Instead of listening to the public concerns, Transport minister Kong Cho Ha is lecturing road users, telling them to be more understanding and reasonable to reduce the high numbers of road accident," she said.

She said it was wrong to privatise the enforcement and implementation of the AES to two private companies when the terms of the concessionaires were not made public.

"Having heavy fines alone is not the practical way to bring down accident rates when road users are already struggling to make ends meet in their daily life," added Teresa.

She suggested that measures such as road bumps, yellow lines as a warning to reduce speed, and proper roads maintenance could be effective in preventing road accidents.

-Harakahdaily