Police have issued 27,414,823 summons to those caught on camera violating speed limits since 1996, said Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop.

This reply to Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) during the winding up of the committee level debate for the Home Ministry, was however, used by the MP to show the failure of speed cameras.

“Police have issued 27 million summonses since 1996 and yet accidents are rising. This means the police cameras have failed to prevent accidents and the police have to ‘close shop’. What is the point of these speed cameras?” the MP asked.

NONE Mahfuz ( right ) has been in the forefront of the movement against the Road Transport Department (RTD)’s Automated Enforcement System (AES) which includes the placing of speed cameras at accident-prone areas.

Meanwhile, Fong Poh Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) also raised concern that road users will be faced with a double whammy of speed cameras, with both the police and AES cameras targetting the 800-odd spots.

“Does this mean that road users can get caught by an AES camera and then down the road, they’ll get caught by a mobile camera held by a police officer under a bridge?” she asked.

Winding up the Transport Ministry budget committee stage debate yesterday, Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha had said that from 2002 to 2011, 64,195 people died form road accidents, while more have sustained injuries.

He said that analysts predict that fatalities can rise to more than 10,000 a year if nothing is done to address this issue.

Home Ministry paid 10 times more for speed cameras