Malaysia’s plan to use artificial intelligence to fine speeding drivers has drawn public ire, with critics accusing the government of prioritising revenue collection over road safety while ignoring the country’s deadly record of lorry-related accidents.
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The government’s proposed Automated Awareness Safety System (Awas) would calculate a vehicle’s average speed by tracking the time taken to travel between tollgates. Those found exceeding the speed limit would be issued an automatic fine of up to 300 ringgit (US$70), without any human oversight.
The transport ministry had scheduled two pilot tests on accident-prone highways in June but has since paused the roll-out, a ministry spokesman told This Week in Asia on Tuesday.
Still, public anger has not subsided, with many Malaysians saying the plan would unfairly penalise drivers while allowing larger – and more dangerous – road safety threats to persist.
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“There are so many other useful things that MoT can do, but they choose to carry out ridiculous things like this,” read a Facebook comment on a post discussing the speed trap system, referring to the Ministry of Transport by its acronym.
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“Do they understand that accident statistics involving lorries are alarming? No solution in sight only burdening the people.”