Anthony Loke: No plans to increase speed limit to 120 km/h, current limit not set by JPJ/MoT

Transport Minister Anthony Loke told the Dewan Rakyat that the government and ministry have no plans to increase the current speed limit of 110 km/h. He also revealed that the authority to set speed limits is under the jurisdiction of the Works Ministry.

This is in response to Sabri Azit (PN-Jerai) who asked about the number of speeding motorists caught on speed-trap cameras around the country along with plans to increase the speed limit to 120 km/h.

The current 110 km/h speed limit was set on 1 February 1989 and remains unchanged. Since then, our policymakers have been debating on the issue of increasing or even removing the speed limit altogether but the magic number remains the same 35 years later.

Also read: Should Malaysia’s national speed limit be increased to above 110 km/h?

In 2023, 556,055 notices were issued for speeding via the Automated Awareness Safety System (Awas) cameras. The transport minister also revealed that most speedsters were caught at KM 382.8 of the North-South Expressway (Southbound) near Behrang with 98,911 notices issued between June and December.

Loke also said that most motorists would reduce their speed just before the speed cameras to not get caught.

“The Road Transport Department (JPJ) found that drivers slow down their vehicles in areas with cameras as notices were put up about 2 km before the location of the cameras,” he told Dewan Rakyat.