KUALA LUMPUR: The Transport Ministry is mulling ‘rewarding’ well-behaved motorists with vehicle insurance discounts, on the condition that they do not break any traffic laws in a year.
If the mechanism is resolved, the plan could be rolled out by next year, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
Loke said the ministry is currently discussing with the Malaysian Automotive Insurance Association (PIAM) on how to implement such a mechanism.
“Under the demerit system we will suspend the license if a driver has too many offences. However, we also want to reward good drivers with unblemished records. If there are no demerits in one year they might receive an insurance discount.
“We are discussing with PIAM on how we can reward them. One of the ideas they proposed was to the Road Transport Department (RTD) system with the insurance agencies and give them discounts on their yearly vehicle insurance,” he told an online portal.
He said PIAM has already concurred that these are “low-accident risk” drivers. He said the plan is expected to be rolled out by next year.
Meanwhile, Loke said the RTD has been told to no longer provide 50 per cent discounts on traffic summonses.
Previously, traffic offenders are given a two-month grace period to settle RM150 as opposed to the RM300 full fine.
“We want to educate our drivers to become better drivers. We are not interested in generating revenue from summonses because there are other ways for the ministry to make money — such as [auctioning] number plates.
“If possible, I want zero-revenue from summonses because then our roads will be safe. If I generate a lot of revenue from summonses, this means our roads are full of reckless and irresponsible drivers,” he was quoted as saying.
He said the government would no longer install new static traffic cameras on highways which have a speed limit of below 110kph.
He said cameras currently installed on highways which have a speed limit of 80 to 90kph would also be reviewed.
Cameras on lower-speed limit highways (not on federal roads) might also be removed, he said.