Malaysia lowers traffic fines to curb bribery
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-05 11:25 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -
Malaysian authorities have lowered fines for traffic offenses by up to 70
percent in hopes that motorists will actually pay them instead of bribing
traffic police to avoid tickets, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Tickets for minor offenses, such as turning without signaling, will now have
reduced fines, Police Internal Security and Public Order Director Mustafa
Abdullah told the New Straits Times newspaper.
Lower fines may ensure people pay their tickets instead of bribing officers
to avoid tickets, Mustafa said.
Traffic fines were also being slashed because the cost of living has
ballooned with escalating gas prices, he added.
A traffic police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
initiative will be evaluated to see if it should be made permanent. "We will
take a month or two to conduct our surveys and gauge the public's response," the
officer said.
An average of 11,000 traffic tickets are issued to offenders daily in
Malaysia, but many are ignored by motorists.
Mustafa was in a meeting Tuesday morning and unable to answer a reporter's
phone call.
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