Vast potential for government revenue

ONE source of revenue that the government constantly underestimates is law enforcement.

We’ve all seen the fact that our roads are constantly filled with people who use emergency lanes, run a red light and even speed in school and residential zones.

Thus, if there was one area that could be automated to bring huge revenue to the government, it would be the enforcement of traffic laws.

Of course, this idea is not exactly new as we have had the Automated Enforcement System (AES), which unfortunately was mired in controversy due to the government allowing a private company to enforce the law.

But all it takes is to restructure the system itself; all summonses for traffic offences would be issued by the police, and funding and maintenance of the system would be handled by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and Public Works Department (JKR).

At the same time, JPJ could also install a system to measure vehicle emissions on top of the AES cameras. Thus, breaches of traffic laws and emissions regulations would be monitored at the same time and summonses could be issued by the relevant authorities.

The system, if placed properly, should also issue a “red alert situation” if the same vehicle is seen speeding through two or three cameras in sequence, at which point a police or JPJ enforcement vehicle should be sent out to pull the driver over.

We could go further with the idea of technology in traffic law enforcement, particularly RFID technology.

Making RFID part of a car’s road tax, for example, and coupling the AES system with readers, would allow another easy way of enforcing road tax renewals without the hassle of a police roadblock.

As the point of the exercise is to collect revenue, it would be necessary to ensure that everyone who breached the law pays up. If a summons is not paid, why not just find the car, lock it down and leave the owner a note to go and pay up either at the police station or online?

There’s no excuse for not paying summonses these days because it can be done online, particularly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. There’s also no excuse in not renewing road tax because, again, it can be done online.

Implementing this system would not only generate revenue for the government but also make people think it would be better to just rely on public transport.

Will this make driving a hassle? It depends; if you’re used to obeying the law, it should be no issue. If not, then it is time to choose public transport. HAFIDZ BAHAROM Petaling Jaya