AES: The straw that broke the Rakyat's back - AGAIN

A few major accidents had taken place recently. They are, however, not the topic to be discussed today. The main point is, the argument saying that "the AES is able to reduce road accidents" is now hardly convincing.

Among the 14 AES cameras installed, four are located in Kuala Lumpur, two in Putrajaya, one in Selangor and seven in Perak. Putting accidents in non-AES zones aside, there were three fatal accidents along the North-South Highway within the Perak territory alone in these few days.

The accident in Slim River on 28 November killed five people and injured six. On 1 December, a car carrying five Tunku Abdul Rahman College students lost control near the Gopeng Exit, killing one and injuring four. A bus driver was killed on the spot while 10 passengers were injured when the bus rammed into a lorry in Gua Tempurung on 4 December.

No AES camera is installed at the locations where the accidents occurred, and the nearest AES camera is the one at the 376th km of the North-South Highway.

Effectiveness questioned

Transport Minister recently pointed out that the AES provider was not authorised to install the camera system indiscriminately. He said that the locations to install the system are decided based on the research and analysis results of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) in accordance with road accident data and the suggestions of the police. If that being the case, why no camera is installed at Gua Tempung, a car accident black spot?

According to the police data, a total of 19 fatal road accidents had taken place from the 293rd km to the 310th km of the north-South Highway this year, killing 22 people and injuring 60. The 294th km, 301st km and 304th km are areas having the highest numbers of fatal accidents, but only one AES camera is installed at the 276th km. It is contrary to the Transport Minister's so-called purpose of reducing road accidents.

The efficacy of the AES is questioned and there are many doubts affecting its credibility, including the contracts are not disclosed, the system is outsourced to private companies, five AES cameras were installed at areas with the speed limit of 30km/h and AES summons receivers can only appeal in court. However, no comprehensive review has been done by the authorities so far.

Mass mutiny

As there are too many doubts ans questions, most AES summons receivers refused to pay the fine. The court summoned 2,408 of summons receivers, most of them being captured to have run a red light at Old Klang Road or Jalan Sepadu, in these two days. However, only six persons out of the 238 summoned attended the court on Tuesday while 27 out of 914 turned up on Wednesday.

If only a few percents of summons receivers show up, the court will have to issue arrest warrants. It will be a waste of court and police resources.

Fourteen AES cameras were put into operation on 23 September and as of 26 November, a total of 256,899 summonses were issued with 243,545 were for speeding and 13,354 were for running a red light. An AES camera averagely captured 282 photos a day in 65 days and 3,952 summonses were issued each day. The AES provider may obtain RM16 from each summons and it can earn RM4.11 million in just two months.

It is controversial for the AES at Old Klang Road to have issued the high number of summonses. Road users complained that the buffering time was too short as the traffic light turned red three seconds after turning yellow. It was said that the AES camera captured at least three photos each time the light turned red.

Under the fierce confrontation between the ruling and alternative coalitions, it can be predicted that the AES issue will continue to ferment and the BN will be the target of attack.

-Sin Chew Daily