Signboards to alert motorists of both police cameras and AES

PETALING JAYA: All speed traps, including those set up by the police, must now have warning signs alerting motorists of the cameras ahead.

Signboards must also be put up before traffic light junctions to warn road users of cameras that would capture images of those who beat the red light.

Road Transport Department (JPJ) enforcement director Jaafar Mohamedsaid for speed traps, warning signs would be placed between two and three kilometres away from police mobile cameras and those operated under the Automated Enforcement System (AES).

“We have also agreed to an additional signboard within a kilometre of the camera to further caution the motorists,” he said in an interview.

This means that there would be at least two warning signs to alert motorists of cameras ahead to effectively curb speeding.

Jaafar said the move to make warning signs necessary was in line with the Road Transport (Camera-Recorded Offences) Rules 2012, amended in September this year, adding that Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha had approved the changes.

He said the warning signs for both the police speed trap cameras and AES would have the same specifications to ensure equal standard.

Speed traps set up by the police and under the AES would follow the amended rules which, among others, state that a camera operation zone sign should be erected between two and three kilometres from the location of a static camera or mobile camera.

Under the same amendment, a warning sign against failure to obey a red signal, must also be displayed between 50 and 500m from the location of the detector system for a static camera before traffic light junctions.

Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order director Comm Datuk Wira Salleh Mat Rasid said on Thursday that police officers had been told to carry out enforcement operations in the open.

He urged the public to inform the police district headquarters if they came across policeman hiding behind bushes or trees during operations.

“The men in blue must be visible at all times,” he said.

Jaafar said the warning signboards would be displayed at more than 800 locations, identified as “black spots” or accident-prone areas.

“This is in addition to the 831 black spots' where AES cameras will be set up,” he said. “Hence, there is no overlapping of enforcement by the police and JPJ.”

He said currently police put up warning signs before mobile speed trap cameras but the notices were not according to the recently amended road transport rules.

Jaafar said the signboards would be erected as soon as an inter-department Government committee had ironed out details on enforcement. - Star