Transformation needed for road safety measures

TS,Wednesday, 2 March 2011 

I refer to “Emergency lanes vital” (The Star, Feb 26). The reply by the Road Safety director-general to a letter questioning the need for emergency lanes was clear and appropriate. 

Datuk Suret Singh reiterated that there must be continuous efforts to educate motorists that such lanes are meant for emergency vehicles only and those caught using them illegally would be fined. 

However, such measures have proven to be inadequate. 

If the authorities were going to dish out more of the same, the frustrations of motorists would unlikely end anytime soon. 

By now, it should be common knowledge that compound fines have no deterred motorists from committing traffic offences. Millions of summonses have been issued with over 18 million still unpaid 

Soldiering on with the current methods would continue to produce dismal results. Nothing less than a bold transformation can bring about the necessary changes. 

The only way to drive home the message is to suspend their driving licence for a short period and make them attend a lecture. 

We should no longer accept the standard answer that lack of enforcement is due to manpower shortage. 

I have advocated since 2003 that the surveillance part of enforcement can be privatized without compromising the authority of the various enforcement agencies. 

Companies can be appointed to train and operate camera crews to videotape traffic offenses. The enforcement agencies pay for clear evidence and it would be up to them to issue summonses. 

The camera crews are to don bright uniforms and operate at selected roadsides or junctions. 

They would be a welcome sight to the majority of law-abiding motorists. 

The public will finally get to see that justice is served on those who have previously got away with impunity. 

This manual system is superior to static cameras, which do not deter but merely record offences after the act. 

Moreover, the government does not have to spend millions of ringgit installing and operating static cameras. 

Apart from traffic offences, these camera crews can also record those caught in the act of illegal dumping, open burning and smoky factories or vehicles. 

Best of all, their presence would also deter street crimes such as snatch thefts, as their cameras can be pointed at any direction by the mobile crew. 

YS Chan 

Kuala Lumpur