Answering a question by Mohd Imran Abdul Hamid (PKR-Lumut) in Dewan Rakyat Thursday, Rosnah said the speed limits were set based on the road design, particularly in hillly areas.
She also said that the national speed limit, which was set at 110kph on highways and 90kph on interstate highways, also took into consideration the significantly high accident statistics.
“It is public knowledge that the faster the car is, the higher the risk is for an accident to occur,” she said, adding that Malaysia recorded thousands of fatal accidents each year.
She said in 2013 alone, there were 4,684 fatal accidents, 2,870 major accidents and 4,932 minor accidents.
Earlier, Mohd Imran had asked the ministry if the national speed limit on highways for vehicles could be increased from 110kph to 150kph as vehicles used these days were of good quality and capable of high speeds.
He proposed that the speed limit for left lane be increased to 110kph, middle lane at 110-130kph and the right lane at 130-150m/h, emulating Germany which has no speed limits.
"I have experience living in a developed nation, Germany for 30 months and their highway - the Autobahn, had no speed limits.
“They had all sorts quality cars such as Mercedes, Porsche and BMW, just like our country.
"But I don’t understand why we can’t increase the speed limit based on the cars’ needs,” he said, adding that the country needs to review the speed limits in order to reach the developed nation status.
Rebutting this, Rosnah said there luxury cars in Malaysia only made up 10% of road vehicles and emphasised that the different road design geometry was the main factor for the current speed limit.
“Your suggestion to review the speed limit for each lane would create a conflict with many other vehicles, especially the heavy ones on the road.
“Therefore, I’d like to advise if you like to drive faster than 150kph, you have the Sepang International Circuit which is suited for high-speed cars,” she said.
Rosnah said that the Ministry held periodic meetings with Transport Ministry, the police and other related agencies on matters concerning speed limits.
She also said that they will also take into a consideration on the possibility of installing cut-off devices on high-speed cars, as suggested by Anuar Abd Manap (BN-Sekijang).
