MBPP Reduces Speed Limit At UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Motorists who exceed the new 40 KMH speed limit when driving in Penang's UNESCO World Heritage Sites will face a RM150 fine.

This limit applies to all roads within the core zone, with the exception of key roads such as Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong, Gat Jalan Prangin, Pesara King Edward, Lebuh Light, Lebuh Farquhar, and Jalan Penang, which have a maximum of 50 KMH.

This new and lower speed limit was gazetted on Aug 31, last year, but enforcement only began recently since key infrastructure was still pending before. As a result, police officers would now issue speeding fines to offenders in the same way that they would for other speeding violations.

According to Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (MBPP) councillor Edward Tan, the speed limit reduction was made due to the small roads in the area, where vehicles, particularly motorcyclists, were frequently caught speeding.

He also stated that this act of speeding endangers pedestrians, cyclists, and trishaw riders, therefore lowering speed restrictions would potentially reduce accident rates and increase road user safety, according to research undertaken in other nations.

He went on to add that as an added bonus, lowering speed restrictions would help to make the environment greener by reducing carbon emissions from slow traffic.

Furthermore, MBPP also plans to prevent illegal stops and traffic congestion by painting kerbs red to visibly alert motorists to the infringement and enforcement action will be taken against errant motorists.