This blog on driving has been in existence a rather long time now.

To be exact, since April 2009. Of late, I feel I have been churning our articles that are not very interesting to readers.

Why do I feel this way?

When readers do not give good reviews, comments or encouraging remarks, how else then would a writer be expected to feel?

Today, therefore, I will attempt to write an interesting article for all readers. Hopefully, I shall succeed in my attempt.

Road users, in case you are unaware, include pedestrians, motorists and motorcyclists. There are in fact many things which, unfortunately many road users are unaware of. The following are 5 things Malaysian road users may not know:

1) The necessity to wear shoes when they are driving.

Many Malaysian drivers, include your sincerely, are very fond of wearing slippers when they drive. Slippers wearing is a habit amongst us. It is a cool and simple way to drive about.

But believe me, if you choose to wear such apparels when driving or riding a motorcycle, you will, I am certain, find yourself in deep trouble one day. Why do I say so?

Because wearing slippers is deemed dangerous! As a driving instructor for many years now, I should be aware of the Road Transport Department’s (R.T.D.) requirement that all my students wear shoes and certainly not slippers when they attend driving classes with me.

Touch wood, they say, until today, I have yet to be stopped by the R.T.D. for this offense yet.

What a big shock it was for me when a reader commented that new learners should wear slippers instead of shoes when learning how to drive. According to him, it seems a driver will then be able to have a better feel of the accelerator.

I wish to remind all readers, driving with slippers is against the law, not only in Malaysia, but I believe in many other countries all around the world as well. Anyway, if you should be stopped by the R.T.D. or J.P.J. authorities, please do remember, they will end up summoning you, and not me, the instructor.

To end this section on the danger of wearing slippers, especially when riding motorcycles, permit me to relate to you about an incident which involved myself riding my Suzuki 120 cc in my younger days.

One night, as I was attempting to put my bike on a one stand stance, stepping on its stand and heaving the bike back to put it on its stand, unfortunately the metal contraption hit my toe nail and almost ripped it off.

Intense bleeding of my toe together with the searing pain almost caused me to faint. If I had not been wearing slippers then, this unfortunate incident would not have happened.

2) Doing a U turn is not allowed.

Many drivers I’m certain, are not aware that doing a U turn is towns is not allowed. This is especially so, when many motorists make U turns at traffic light junctions.

Unless there is an arrow and a traffic sign that show a U turn is permitted, doing a U turn at such places is a traffic offense.

3) Standing in the middle of the road at double lines.

Some pedestrians are very fond of standing in the middle of busy roads while trying to cross busy roads.

Prior to this, pedestrians would stand on a divider as they wait for an opportunity to cross the road. This in fact is a dangerous move.

What pedestrians are advised to do is to first of all wait at the road shoulder should he or she intend to cross the road. Once a pedestrian discovers that oncoming cars a no longer approaching him, he can then proceed to cross the road safely.

So do remember, if you wish to cross a road, you are hereby advised to first of all stand on the road shoulder, observe traffic and ensure it is safe before finally crossing the road.

4) Drivers should put on headlights when it is night time.

Headlights or head lamps should be put on when night time arrives is something all drivers should be aware of. What signifies “night”? A solicitor friend of mine advises, night is considered as “half an hour after the sun legally sets”.

For instance, if the sun has set at 6:40 pm, then by 7:10 pm, a motorist should then be installing the lights of his car by that time. Failure to put on the lights of his car by then would constitutes an offense.

5) Refusal to pay tolls constitutes an offense.

It is uncertain whether as a motorist, you are aware that when you cross a toll collection booth, you have to pay toll. What will happen should you refuse to pay tolls?

Maybe you have reasons for it. Protesting perhaps with something you are not too happy about. Be it be known, that a person who refuses to pay tolls can be arrested by the authorities concerned.

I still remember very vividly, when the Opposition leader, the Honorable Lim Kit Siang, refused to pay tolls. The toll authorities finally called the cops who came to remove him.

As I read the article “Helpless as car burns” in Friday 4th June 2010 edition of the Star newspaper, I am indeed saddened that such an incident, that shouldn’t happen, has again, unfortunately happened.

When will drivers ever start to learn to realize that a vehicle, amongst other things, must have an emergency triangle. And most important of all, it must also have a fire extinguisher as well.

With the above in mind, I have written a number of articles prior to this regarding the necessity to have this important item in our cars. In reality, it’s of no use if car owners possess the latest models of cars costing over RM100,000 but does not have a fire extinguisher. Then the purpose of such expensive cars is defeated.

As a lecturer for the Kursus Pendidikan Pemandu (K.P.P.), or better known as the “Course for potential drivers”, I have time and time again stressed the importance of having a fire extinguisher in our cars that we drive. But very unfortunately, the above advice, I believe, must surely have fallen to deaf ears.

How many drivers, for that matter, have fire extinguishers in their cars?

As a father, and a lecturer for the above defensive driver’s course, I have made it a point to see to it that my son’s, daughter’s and even my wife’s car have fire extinguishers in them. All the above have also emergency triangles and cones too.

For your information, a cone painted white and orange in colour only costs approximately RM25 – RM28 and available from most hardware shops around.

Reflecting upon the latest intention of the Road Transport Department and the government as a whole to introduce a new driving curriculum for potential drivers or “P” drivers soon, the authorities should in fact postpone such ambitious plans and programmes.

What, readers may ask, is the use of attempting to put Malaysia’s driving standards on par with world driving standard for? Is that more important than attempting to save the life of a school girl who perish in the 3 am fire which took place at Jalan Cheras, Kuala Lumpur a few days ago?

For readers’ consumption, in the above tragic incident, which involved a woman’s Perodua Myvi, a Toyota Vios and a lorry with 2 men inside, the Myvi was reported to have burst into flames. Frantic efforts by a passer-by, a Mr. Teo Chai Yong, 31, to save the occupant of the car was unfortunately hampered by the lack of a fire extinguisher.

It was further reported, that Mr. Teo’s efforts to obtain a fire extinguisher from a nearby petrol station was unsuccessful. Mr. Teo’s effort to even purchase the fire extinguisher from them was unfortunately turned down!

The workers of the petrol pump refusal to provide the fire extinguisher to Mr. Teo cannot be faulted. The workers, whom I assumed to be foreigners were in fact just following their bosses’ directives.

What’s to be faulted here is why did the lorry which was involved in the incident fail to possess the mandatory fire extinguishers which they were suppose to have?

If only the lorry referred to in this incident had the necessary fire extinguisher, I believe the student who was burnt to death would certainly not have died. She was most certainly have been alive today.

The question I would like to raise is why did the authorities fail to take action on the lorry in question for not possessing a fire extinguisher all this while?

This bring us to the question of inability of the authorities, namely the Road Transport Department, J.P.J, the police and the licensing board, being unable to enforce existing laws which exists in the country today. It’s pointless having all types of laws if these laws itself cannot be enforced.

The enforcement of laws, especially when it pertains to the question of fire extinguishers in commercial vehicles is sadly said to be ineffective. If enforcement had been effective, this tragic and unfortunate incidents would not have taken place.

The question of private and personal vehicles not having fire extinguishers is yet another important factor which the authorities should contemplate further. Would it not be possible to impose the regulation whereby the authorities insist that it is a compulsory requirement to have a fire extinguisher before a vehicle road tax is issued.

To end this sad episode regarding this incident, the authorities say the case is being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless and dangerous driving.

The interesting thing here is, who is to be charged for committing the above offense. Is it the driver of the Perodua Myvi, the Toyota Vios or the driver of the lorry?

Related articles:

1) Woman dies in fire as BHP staff refuse to loan fire extinguisher

2) Accident on Cheras-Kajang Highway (BHP Incident)

3) Girl Burnt To Death at Jalan Cheras-Kajang

In conjunction with my last article where I wrote about the Malaysian new driving curriculum for new drivers, I would like to raise the question of why Malaysian drivers are considered as poor drivers.

There exists many reasons why foreigners regard Malaysians as the world worst drivers. If we should make an in depth study why we Malaysian drivers are regarded as such, some of the reasons must surely be:

1) Malaysian drivers possess poor discipline.

Poor discipline has time and again led motorists to ignore rules and regulations.

For example, even though faced with a red traffic light, there are some who choose to ignore it and beat the traffic light instead. The consequences of such actions have been time and time again reported to have been dire.

2) Some Malaysian drivers do not seem to respect traffic lights.

Again, due to poor discipline, drivers and motorcyclists tend to ignore traffic lights. Elsewhere in another article, I have gave examples whereby some motorists perpetually ignore traffic lights.

At traffic lights, observe carefully and you’ll discover 2 to 4 of those who are waiting at the traffic lights will eventually shoot off after waiting for quite some time. This indicates impatience.

Impatience at traffic lights is dangerous. Accidents can easily happen quite often. Motorists are advised to ponder carefully regarding this factor.

3) Overtaking on the left side of the road.

Overtaking on the left is not encouraged because it is dangerous. But Malaysian drivers seem to adopt this manner of driving. When tutoring students how to drive, I have time and again come across people who overtake on the left.

Just recently, an Indian motorcyclist overtook my female student suddenly on the left. I was shocked and appalled by what had happened. And the above motorcyclist had the audacity to raise his hand into the air as if in show of his disgust, when we nearly knocked into him.

In reality, the motorcyclist himself was at fault for overtaking on the left side in the first place. We were not at fault. It was the motorcyclist who was in reality at fault. He overtook us on the left!

4) Excessive speeding.

Although there is a national speed limit in Malaysia, nevertheless, this speed is unfortunately not followed too rigidly. For foreign readers consumption, trunk roads, for example, Klang to Kuala Lumpur, the maximum speed limit allowed is 80 km/h and 90 km/h. Expressways, which usually connects states, like the North-South expressways from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, for example, has a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h.

However, such speed limits are frequently not observed. A friend of mine, Jack, recently told me he drove a Perdana V6 going at 140 km/h. The above is only one classic example of people ignoring speed limits in the country.

5) Not stopping at junctions.

Many Malaysian drivers and motorcyclists have a tendency not to stop at junctions. More so when it is a junction where no traffic lights are installed. Even though there is a “stop, look, go” sign.

From observations made by me over a period of more than 40 years of tutoring students how to drive, I have arrived at a conclusion whereby most motorists come to a junction and straight away fail to stop at such junctions.

Due to impatience, drivers fail to stop. And instead of giving way to traffic, these drivers will instead shoot off straight into the road ahead and right into the path of on coming cars.

Such manner of driving can very easily cause accidents. If only all drivers, faithfully do their duty of stopping at junctions, then driving in Malaysia would be a dream and I am sure that the rate of accidents in our country would be greatly reduced.

6) Not wearing helmets as required by law.

Although there is a law which requires motorcyclists and its pillion riders to wear helmets, sad to note that especially in kampung areas or remote areas, people seem to ignore this ruling. Most motorcyclists do not bother to don helmets as required by the law. This has resulted in many deaths amongst motorcycle riders and its pillion.

The government on its part has launched many campaigns to encourage the public to use helmets. In one recent helmet campaign, a total of 135,000 Sirim approved helmets were given away to motorcyclists as an exchange for old and worn out helmets.

7) Failure to use indicators and signals when turning.

The use of signals and indicators when turning is essentially very important. What I have observed all these years is that Malaysian drivers and motorists fail to use these 2 items fully.

If only signals and indicators are used to its maximum capacity, then I feel that the number of accidents in the country can be easily be reduced.

8) Overtaking at double lines.

Overtaking at double lines is strictly disallowed. As such, no drivers should ever envisage to overtake at such places. Observations made by me over the years, surprisingly indicate that Malaysian drivers fail to adhere to this particular requirement.

Non adherence to this particular aspect of the law can go on to cause many accidents in our country.

9) Failure to stop at pedestrian crossings.

In Singapore, where failure to stop at pedestrian crossings is a serious violation of traffic laws, in Malaysia, unfortunately, motorists who choose not to stop at a pedestrian crossing are not dealt with as seriously as their counterparts in Singapore.

Unless and until Malaysian drivers are willing to change their mindset over giving way to pedestrian at pedestrian crossings, we will unfortunately continue to see violations at such crossings for a long time to come.

The above are 9 of the most common traffic violations committed by Malaysian drivers as well as motorcyclists.
These are violations observed by me over the years.

The Road Transport Department admits that a few things have gone wrong in our system. For one, poor enforcement unfortunately has to be said to be one of the causes. If enforcement had been effective, this will instill fear in motorists and they will not violate laws. This is why new learner drivers have to be educated accordingly so that they will become better drivers.

Another manner in which Malaysia drivers and motorcyclist can be trained as better drivers is through safety campaigns. Such campaigns must go on, even though they have been seen as not being effective enough.

Finally, the government wants those who are responsible for the above campaigns to be “people friendly” and accessible to the public.

I look forward to the launching of the new driving curriculum which will be introduced very shortly to the Malaysian public. Its aim as reiterated is a move to produce more law abiding, courteous and competent drivers as the P.M., Datuk Najib said himself.

Will our country succeed in our quest with the new driving curriculum? Even though it is believed “you are what you are”, nevertheless, an attempt can be made nonetheless. Who knows, anything can happen. We may very well succeed in our attempt!