I don’t know what it is with Malaysian drivers. They just don’t know how to be courteous on the roads. Emergency lanes are just normal roads to them. Despite the many warnings issued by the police traffic or the JPJ, Malaysian drivers continue to utilize the emergency lanes for their own benefits. Don’t they know that those lanes are for EMERGENCY only..?? Belajar tingkat-tingkat, but when it comes to simple matters as that, this handful of drivers just couldn’t care less. All they have in their heads are that: I am LATE. What better way to avoid being late but cut queue and use the emergency lanes. Very selfish. Very kiasu. Very bad. Many road accidents these days occur not just because drivers drive fast and knock against other harmless drivers (which happened to be on the location when the accidents occur). A person stopping at the emergency lane due to car or engine problems are also likely to be killed in a gruesome road accident. Imagine your father stopping at the emergency lane and within split seconds, without he realizes it, he got hit by a car which happened to be speeding on the emergency lane. How devastating is that. Roads are provided for motorists to use, but some drivers are still thick enough and continue to use emergency lanes. These are just the many things that I cannot tolerate.
I was on my way back from Parit Sulong to Seremban on the second day of raya. There was a traffic jam in Parit Sulong (don’t get me started on that. It was just simply weird). Then a black kancil sped by our car in a lane next to us. I wouldn’t even call it an emergency lane because it was just tanah merah road. The kancil was quite fast. Suddenly we heard a crash in front. I hated to imagine what had happened but yes it happened alright. The black kancil rammed against a motorcycle which had two young female riders. The driver of the motorcycle was thrown aside (luckily not on the road, even more lucky not inside the river) whereas her passenger was still stuck on the motorcycle obviously dazed and in a shocking state. The black kancil was parked by the road, its windows all shattered whilst its driver was out of the car helping the girl. She wasn’t moving. When people tried to make her sit, she went limp and lifeless. I can’t imagine what the kancil driver must have felt but all I know is that, it is such a heavy price to pay for simply wanting to cut the queue. I guess the motorcycle must have wanted to pass through and suddenly the kancil rammed against its side. I just hope that the girl is alright. I truly hope so. My mother couldn’t bear to watch the whole event (as it happened next to our car). She just closed her eyes and waited for our car to pass by the incident.
On the PLUS highway, there were MANY cars using the emergency lane especially from the Ayer Keroh onwards. When they saw the police, they quickly drove on the road, afraid of being summoned. Luckily there was quite a number of police traffic waiting on the emergency lane. But the maddening thing was that, after the motorists bypassed the stationed police, they resumed their ‘emergency lane driving’ without a care in the world. They weren’t thinking about the safety of other road users, BUT they were more afraid of getting summoned..!!
I am inclined to say that Malaysians are terrible, ignorant and selfish road users because from January 2005 till to date, about 160,000 motorists DO NOT have valid licenses. Where has the mentality of our people gone to? How are we going to curb road accidents if respectable parents themselves do not bother to ensure that their loved ones have proper driving licenses before telling them to go to the market driving the proton waja? Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, our Transport Minister said in the press on Thursday, 10 November 2005, “Sendiri mati dan bunuh orang lain, Apa ini?. Saya amat marah, macam mana boleh benarkan orang ini membawa kenderaan tanpa lesen''. Don’t get me started on bus drivers. Whenever an accident occurs, their reasons would be, “Brake tak makan”, or “Tak bawak laju pun. Bawak 70 km/jam jer”. Hello…!! If you drive 70 km/hour, then there wouldn’t be an accident now would there.
What can we do? How are we going to change the mentality of the Malaysians to be more courteous on the roads and not kill people?
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