251,193 summonses issued in five months through AWAS system

PUTRAJAYA: The Road Transport Department (RTD) has issued a total of 251,193 summonses through its Automated Awareness Safety (Awas) System between April 15 and yesterday.
Its director-general, Datuk Shaharuddin Khalid, said of the total, 229,319 summonses were issued for speeding offences and 21,874 for running the traffic lights.
However, he said only 29,957 individual summonses and 5,735 company summonses totaling RM5.3 million had been paid to date, from the RM37 million which should have been collected.
"We are not just focusing on the amount of summonses paid, but also on acting sternly to ensure that motorists will adhere to the traffic regulations.
"We installed those cameras to remind them not to drive beyond the stipulated speed limits. That is why several metres before any camera, there will be 'speed camera ahead' signboard, but many motorists tend to ignore that," he told a press conference here today.
On the seven-day Ops Tutup 2017 operation on heavy vehicles conducted from Oct 2 to 8, Shaharudin said 15,405 vehicles, especially lorries, were inspected.
A total of 8,371 offences were detected and 5,594 summonses were issued, with the most number of offence being overloading (25 percent) and driving without valid licence or goods vehicle driving licence (GDL) or with expired licence (24.8 per cent).
Shaharudin also said the RTD would launch its Ops Sisih 1 and 2 in November and December to ensure that express bus drivers would comprise only non-traffic offenders and did not have any unpaid summonses.
He said the operations would be conducted in all states as a preliminary measure to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and road users, especially with the year-end school holidays and Chinese New Year early next year. — Bernama