The Transport Ministry recently announced that the Automated Awareness Safety System (AwAS) cameras will be enhanced by implementing a method between two points.
Under this new method, the average speed of a vehicle will be calculated between two camera points based on distance and travel time.
If a vehicle arrives faster than it should, it indicates the driver is speeding and could potentially be fined.
In other words, drivers can no longer pretend to slow down in front of cameras but speed up again afterwards.
Based on this author's experience, many drivers behave like saints when passing police patrol cars or AwAS cameras, especially if they knew where the cameras are located.
As of December, last year, there are about 45 AwAS cameras installed nationwide.
Of the number, 26 are placed on highways, including near kilometre 204 of the Plus highway in Melaka, where seven lives were lost in an accident caused by a lorry’s tire detachment on Dec 23, that year.
This author hopes that this new system will help reduce road accident rates and encourage drivers to be more disciplined.
However, it would be even better if this system was first applied to the existing toll system since every vehicle’s entry and exit is already recorded.
For example, the distance between two toll plazas at the Menora Tunnel, Ipoh North and Kuala Kangsar, is 30 kilometres.
If the allowed average speed is 110 kilometres per hour (km/h), a vehicle entering Ipoh North would need 16 minutes to exit at Kuala Kangsar.
If it takes only 14 minutes, the driver could be fined for actually driving at 130 km/h.
This approach might be more effective and would not require additional expenses for installing new cameras at points A and B.