An End To Hidden Speed Traps

Taken from Paul Tan's Automotive News (click HERE):-

The days of speed trap ambushes to catch unsuspecting motorists are over, according to Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar.

Yes, guile and there certainly has been enough of that, from locating the guns in the most unimaginable places (sitting in drains just off the highways, among them) to the use of camouflage in the past is being replaced by transparency. Simply put, motorists will be warned about impending speed traps ahead.

We should not be hiding behind bushes. We should come out in the open and enforce the law, Khalid said. The directive to stop the ambushes has been issued, he added, saying that signs would be set up before the speed trap or roadblocks to warn the motorists beforehand.

Of course, the big question is how it will affect generated revenue since September 2009, the police has issued summons to more than 2.5 million motorists, primarily from speed traps and speed cameras, and from 2000 to 2008, outstanding summons added up to RM2 billion, certainly not an insignificant amount. Still, the move towards a wider scale implementation of automated speed camera systems should continue the effects of enforcement, just in a different, indirect manner.

Its a step forward in the right direction, this direct method of enforcement sans subterfuge. Undoubtedly, public education on the perils of speeding and working towards observing the designated speed limits will still take a long while to accomplish, but the removal o! f the c at-and-mouse game is certainly a welcome move. What do you think this move will accomplish, if any?