In voicing displeasure over a suggestion to increase the maximum traffic fine of RM300, Gerakan’s deputy president Dr Cheah Soon Hai said it was also ironic that police often offered discounts on summonses to encourage offenders to clear their backlog.

Cheah, in a statement, said these discounts defeated the purpose of increasing the fines in the first place.

He urged police to instead concentrate on increasing enforcement and act against traffic offenders.

He felt the current maximum fine of RM300 already burdened average Malaysians and the amount was higher than in many other countries.

Cheah also opined that the effectiveness of the Automated Enforcement System and Kejara demerit points system, set to be reintroduced next month, should be taken into consideration before the fines were increased.

“Stronger on-the-road and automated enforcement by the authorities will lead to safer travel on the roads.”

He also felt road safety education and awareness were more effective than excessive fines.

In another development, Malay Mail Online reported that Malay-rights group Perkasa had voiced its opposition to a one-size-fits-all fine for traffic offenders.

In a statement, Perkasa education bureau chief Sirajuddin Salleh said hefty fines should instead be imposed on owners of high-performance cars or motorcycles that it claimed regularly went as fast as 200kph.

“Is the offence of stealing RM1,000 the same as robbing billions of ringgit?”

Sirajuddin suggested that those who breached the speed limit by 10-20kph be fined RM200, with the fine increasing by RM200 for every subsequent 20kph beyond the speed limit.

On Wednesday, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar stated that police were mulling an increase in the RM300 maximum fine for traffic offences as the fine did not seem to be a sufficient deterrent to reduce the number of road fatalities over the Chinese New Year period.

Khalid was also disappointed that many motorists were either driving in the emergency lane or driving recklessly.