Bandar Seri Begawan - Within the last six months of the Demerit Points System (DPS) trail period, several major issues had been identified, among them issues pertaining to the template's inability to recognise the drivers' categories (whether they are probationary, qualified or foreigners) and type of vehicle (commercial, government, private sector), age; constraints in gathering data in a week; smaller PDAs and incomprehensive coverage of 3G Internet; as well as improving enforcement, lack of manpower, allocation to install CCTVs, fixed speed cameras, red traffic light cameras and data recording.

This was yesterday pointed out by the Acting Director for Transportation at the Ministry of Communications, Dr Hj Supry bin Hj Ladi during the post-mortem briefing on the pioneer project for the DPS system. The briefing also discussed proposals as well as the way forward.

To solve the template problem, more columns will be added to the template, while data will be gathered in the final week of every month.

Bigger tablet screens and offline mode, as well as easy programming to facilitate the selection of points, are solutions to tackle the 'small PDA issue and Internet coverage. And in improving the enforcement, a mobile inspection programme by the Land Transport Department as well as mobile enforcement by the police and speed enforcement during wet season are in place.

To tackle inadequate manpower to implement DPS, the use of CCTV technology, fixed speed cameras and red light cameras that can directly link to SPD and ARMS will be employed. As for the allocation, a suggestion was put forward to consult with the private sector and NGOs in assisting with camera installation.

Issues that have been identified once the DPS is fully implemented such as capturing the driver's face, privacy policy issues, status of network coverage once it is fully online, the issue of who will be liable (car owner or driver), foreign drivers caught on speed camera and "red light camera detection without data being available in the system", were also highlighted.

Devising a way forward, the plan of action between December 2012 and May 2013, and anticipated issues following the full deployment of DPS were also highlighted yesterday.

Present at the briefing were the Minister of Communications Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Abdullah bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, the Commissioner of Police, Pehin Orang Kaya Pendikar Alam Dato Paduka Seri Hj Hasrin bin Dato Paduka Hj Sabtu; Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, Dato Paduka Hj Awg Alaihuddin bin Pehin Orang Kaya Digadong Seri Lela Dato Seri Utama Hj Awg Mohd Taha; and the Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary at the ministry, Pg Hj Mohd Zain bin Pg Hj Abd Razak.

Prior to the post-mortem session, a two-day workshop was held for 60 personnel from the Land Transport Department, Ministry of Communications, and personnel from the Traffic Control and Investigation Department of the Royal Brunei Police Force.

Meanwhile, 46 warning letters have been issued to drivers for accumulating 50 per cent of demerit points between January and November this year, while four suspensions have been made to drivers who have accumulated 100 per cent of the demerit points.

This was based on 1,819 arrests made by enforcement officers of drivers. Violating the speed limit notice of 30km/h topped the offences at 56 per cent, while speed limit violations of 30km/h-40km/h accounted for 10 per cent, followed by carrying excessive load which spilled-off (10 per cent), others (9 per cent), driving with bald tyres (6 per cent), violating speed limit notice of 40km/h - 50km/h. (5 per cent), jumping the red light (4 per cent), and violating speed limit exceeding 60km/h with four cases.

Drivers accumulate eight demerit points for exceeding the speed limit by up to 30km/h; nine points for exceeding the speed limit by more than 30km/h40km/h; 12 points for exceeding the speed limit by more than 40km/h-50km/h; 18 points for exceeding speed limit by more than 50km/h-60km/hr; and 24 points for exceeding the speed limit by more than 60km/h.

Meanwhile, having a load fall from a vehicle carries three demerit points, while "prohibition against red lights being shown to the front" carries six demerit points, and using a mobile phone while driving, 12 demerit points.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin