Mandatory dashcams: No deliberation yet – Loke

KLANG - There is no discussion on making dashcams 'mandatory' yet, says Transport Minister.

"Let's make decision first, there is no deliberation yet," Anthony Loke said briefly when asked to comment on the calls to make dashcams mandatory in the country.

Loke said this when met at the 'Inauguration of Costa Serena: Malaysia's First International Cruise Homeport' at Costa Serena Cruise, Port Klang but he refused to comment further.

Sinar Daily previously reported that dashcams were no longer a convenience but a necessity especially when it comes to aiding the police with footage related to investigations.

Last month, police analysed dashcam footages from cars parked near Idaman Apartment in Damansara Damai, where six-year-old Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matiin’s body was found to collect lead in the murder investigation.

In another well-known case, a former Information Technology employee was found guilty by the High Court here on a charge of causing the death of Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir in a road rage incident on the North-South Highway four years ago.

In this case, dashcam footage was crucial in providing justice for Syed Muhammad Danial, who was murdered by Yew Wei Liang in the road rage case.

Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong had also raised the question of why not making dashcams mandatory and highlighted the potential benefits of their installation in vehicles, where he emphasised the advantages of dashcams in retrieving crucial information and serving as evidence, particularly in accident cases.

When speaking to Sinar Daily, Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department supported the use of dashcams in motor vehicles, citing its vital role in crash probes and court proceedings.

Making dashcams compulsory, however, was acknowledged as a potential challenge.

Last year, the police, under then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, sought public feedback on dashcams.

Acryl had said that usage of dashcams in private vehicles would assist investigations into road crashes as well as public complaints on traffic safety and violations.

It was reported that a total of 598,635 road accidents were reported nationwide from Jan 1 to Dec 30 last year, based on police's data on Jan 1.

There has also been a spike in road deaths – from 6,080 in 2022, the number rose to 6,433 last year.

With the rise in road accidents, several measures would be introduced by the Transport Ministry to strengthen road safety which include Cabinet committee that would meet three times a year to address road safety and traffic congestion issues in the country.