PUTRAJAYA: Road users can deny the Automated Enforcement System (AES) concessionaires the opportunity to make money by not speeding or running the red light, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said.

He said so far, 14 AES cameras had been installed at traffic accident black spots throughout the country.

“The notorious black spots were identified by the police, and the system is not meant to benefit AES concessionaires.

“When we installed the cameras, we advertised the locations in all media – Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, English, Tamil. We are not hiding the camera positions,” he told a news conference here Wednesday.

He said the AES was introduced out of the Government’s sense of responsibility in an effort to reduce road accidents by getting tough with speed hogs and red light beaters.

Kong said he had also received many proposals from the public to find the best mechanism to address other traffic offences such as overtaking on double lines, overtaking from the left lane, and illegal parking.

Hence, he said community leaders, non-governmental organisations and politicians should support and not oppose the AES implementation for political gain.

For example, Kong said the Consumers Association of Penang supported the implementation of AES while the Penang government was against it.

On criticism in some blog postings that it was not necessary to fix AES cameras in areas where the speed limit is only between 30 kmph and 70 kmph, he said there were black spots identified by the police.

Other locations for AES cameras will be determined by a study carried out by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, he said, adding that AES concessionaires were also required to get approvals from the Public Works Department Works (federal roads), the state authorities (state roads) and also highway concessionaire (highways).

– Bernama