> FROM PREVIOUS PAGE 831 is a reasonable number.
Some have questioned the loca- tion of the cameras but Prof Wong insists this is based on years of police data on the frequency of accidents, fatalities, and types of injuries and after studying and ana- lysing the area, its surrounding and ranking it.
"We are addressing the higher half," he says, explaining the cam- era locations.
He points out that the objec- tive of the camera is to change the behaviour of road users and make them comply with the road regula- tions.
Prof Wong himself has personally seen the change along the South K1ang Valley Expressway (SKVE), which he often uses. Now that there is an AES camera there, people are keeping within the speed limit, he says. "This is the first time I am experiencing this sort of driv- ing experience in my lifetime in Malaysia!"
He says people driving 80kph in an 80kph zone are considered to be driving fast because that is the maximum limit allowed there. If they go upto 90kph in that 80kph zone, they are speeding because it is over the limit.
Prof Wong says some are quick to dismiss the AES as useless because after passing the AES camera zone, people will go back to their old behaviour of speeding.
"But look at it from a different angle. It shows how effective the . AES actually is because even with just one camera, you can change your behaviour within th~t one zone.
"The AES camera is not like the police camera because the AES cam- era is there 24-7, rain or shine. So no matter what time, if you speed, you will get it (the summons).
There is no escape."
So if there IS a sizeable number of cameras around, he believes it will be difficult for people to alternate their behaviours between the AES camera zone and outside it.
"If you keep doing that, you are going to slip up one day and get caught so you will eventually move
sunday Star, 4 NOVEMBER 2012
FOCUS 27
System to ensure compliance
- Total deaths by states, Malaysia '2001- 2011
STATE 2001 2002 2003 2004 200S 2006 2007
PERLIS 47 53 54 34 -~~ 63 41
-
.. ---~-.--'-~ "~. 1--- f - - - -.KEDAH 473 495 534 474 483 494 492
. " ~ ... . 376
PENANG . . 346 ' 363 389 403 370 381
-
... ~---..--. ----.
1--._---- -- --,-
\ -.---- 1---_.-._
..._ -
PERAK 725 711 739 798 713 726 811
SELANGOR ., 967
,
955-
1083 1050 1064 105!l_ I---.!!J~K.LUMPUR 234 248 273 249 231 255 ' 234
N.SEMBILAN 284 326 340 323 349 ' . 337 320 MALACCA 223 222 228 259 226 232 227
983 1017
JOHOR 960 ' 988 1014 1016 .!Q~
1 - - - - -r--'--1----
PAHANG 414 457 438 445 448 451 437
KELANTAN 271 302 314 283 291 331 374
--. ---. --- -
TERENGGANU 287 256 311 302 271 307 290
SABAH 328 252 310 300 319 316
-- ~ ...
-
-_. ~ --. ..--
" .. - _ ... ... -1'-' -"-- , . -. " .296_ ~.-.-..--
SARAWAK · 290 263
"._-_._'-_._ .. _'-
-_
.. _.-TOTAL 5849 5891
Source: Royal Malaysian Police
to compliance," he says.
"It is important to understand that we would like to move to a situation where most of our drivers obey the traffic rules and not have to pay the summons. It is not tire other way around," he adds.
But 14 cameras, he says, are not enough to make that significant change.
JPJ deputy director-general Datuk Ismail Ahmad was momentarily stunned one time when he was passing an AES-camera zone in Kajang and keeping within the speed limit but the camera still snapped a picture of his car.
"I was going at 70kph but the car in the lane next to mine was speed- ing so the camera flashed and took pictures of-our cars.
"So don't be shocked. Just because the (camera) flash goes off it doesn't m~an you will be issued a summons. The AES camera is smart and will calculate which of the cars passing is speeding," he says.
Explaining how the system works, Prof Wong says each lane
290 294 ~44 347 316
j - - -- 1 - ---
_._
... --6286 6228 6188 6287 6282
has its own separate loop and there are radar sensors on the ground to get the signals.
The distance in the AES zone is fixed and by getting the calibrated time each car passes, it can easily calculate the speed at which each is going and pick out which ones are speeding. •
He says the system is also smart enoughto calcl,1late cars going in between the lanes.
. For the AES camera at traf- fic lights, he says that if a car. passes When the light is amber but changes to red halfway through, the camera will not register this as an offence. It is only an offence if the·
car crosses after the traffic light has turned red.
Following complaints from the public, they have agreed to put up more signage to alert people when they are entering the AES zone, Ismail says.
"Right now, we already have one signboard at each of the 14 cameras but now we want to add one or two more.
2008 2009 2010 2011
69 90 ·66 79
f - - - -.- 1 - -.. - 1-.. _ - - -,--....
_-
496 550 532 515
. 354 395 370 . 392 .
--
.. __ ..-
1----_ .. -1-----._- 1-"- - -829 829 820 811 -
r-1~- 976 1061
---
f - - _.1070 _-'237 230 233 236
389 371 399 374 .
243 248 235 ' 240 1065
\ - - - - - 1060
\ - - - - - 1076 . 1073
1 - - - ' -1 - - - . - -
446 512 .574 563
380 453 380 392
293 348 314 292
325 345 447 398
......
" - -
....--
'-....-
, ....318 332 365 442
_._ --
--",. -- '-"-'--'- 6527 6745 6872 6877"For traffic lights, we plan to add one more signboard. And for .the speeding, we would like to add another two signboards, the first would be 2km to 3km away, the second 1km away and the final SOOm away," he says, adding that it would take three to four weeks to
do this. .
" They have to coordinate with the
local council, get approval from the highway concessionaire and then work at where to place the signs, he explains.
About half of the cameras are in the Pakatan Rakyat governed states of Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan.
And Pakatan has come out to say that they will not allow any camera to be installed in their four states because they oppose the private companies making ,a profit out of traffic offences.
Kong says this is a legal issue and that the Government might need to seek the opinion of the Attorney- General's chambers.
"Where does the jurisdiction of .
the state lie? Ifthe Plus highway passes through their state, whose jurisdiction is that?" Kong points out. ,
i'If a road passes through a state and if the state says they want to dismantle that, can they do it? Why don't they just close down the Plus highway in their states?"
He says the Government has been engaging the Opposition on the AES for many years and that the process has spanned a number of prime ministers and transport ministers.
He feels it is not fair to "jeopard- ise the safety of road users by play- ing politiCS" on an issue which is of public concern and stresses that the Government is not forking out a sen for the AES. Road users who abide by the traffic rules and regulations will not either, he says.
"We want our people to be more responsible on the road. People should give this system time to run and see the effectiveness. There are many who tell me they are more careful on the road now and com- plying with the speed limit.
"Ithas started to create a percep- tion among the people there is a po'ssibility they may be caught in the system.
"We are starting to move towards' ,a more traffic-rules abiding society.
Isn't this what we want? I thought that is the objective. It is not to 'fine' people and enrich companies."
Vif~iNs are still split and it is crucial to get the public onboard . the AES bandwagon for.it to work effectively and make better drivers of Malaysians and ultimately bring down the accident and death toll figures.
But there are already groups planning anti-AES protests.
There have also been isolated cases of people challenging the AES by covering up their number plates and then deliberately speeding back and forth in the AES-camera zones.
Change, no matter how good, is . not always easy to bring about.
Thorough and transparent evaluation made
THE instructions from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, then Prime Minister, on the Auto- mated Enforcement System (AES) were cystal clear.
It must be a good m~el!:~he compa~~es
from the magistrate's court, were present and they studied the images captured by the AES cameras to determine if these would be acceptable in court.
"And we picked the best of the nine," said
-- . . . -' • _ .... n _ _ _ _ " ____ ..:. ... _ .. "..
was thorough and transparent," he says.
Dr Khoiri says that in some countries, the government or local authorities buy the AES cameras and the .system is maintained by service contractors. In others, it is shared
bahaU!k.On "h.cL?11~hn"nQ.C- -=QMllrp. rn':'tr:tct..nr
"If 1,000 summonses are issued and each is RM300, the total is RM300,OOO. The company is supposed to get RM16 per summons (for the first five million summonses) but, if the l,OOOpeople do not pay anything, the com- . rutnv will notJ!et naid - 0 the risk is there for