Malaysians rushed to pay up their traffic fines today after police offered a 50 percent discount on 3.4 million unpaid summonses as part of efforts to clear a huge backlog.

Police reported a good response to the discount, which started Thursday and lasts until Sept 22, reported the official Bernama news agency.

Television reports showed long queues of Malaysians waiting to pay up, while Kuala Lumpur's traffic police chief Hamza Taib said there had been a 20 percent increase in the number of people paying up compared to other days.

"They should take advantage of this opportunity," Hamza was quoted as saying by Bernama .

"We hope the public will not wait until the last minute," to settle their fines, he said.

Merdeka gesture

Shahrudin Karim, 38, told Bernama he had taken the day off to pay four fines, while Ahmad Ismail, 30, called for the discount period to be extended.

"Office employees may find it difficult to take time off to pay their summonses and, if there is huge crowd, they would have to spend more time doing so," he said.

The nationwide offer from police was also part of a gesture marking Malaysia's Independence Day, which was celebrated on Aug 31.

However the offer only applies to fines of RM40 and above, and excludes summonses issued along with arrest warrants for seriously errant motorists, officials have said.

Beating traffic lights, illegal racing, drink driving, and driving causing fatal accidents are excluded from the deal.

According to official figures, one person is hospitalised due to road accidents in Malaysia every six minutes. In some 80 percent of the accidents, the cause was due to exceeding the speed limit and negligent overtaking.