Why are Malaysian drivers so rude?
Last week Thursday (22 May) I was travelling towards Mid Valley from PJ Cycle & Carriage building. For that short distance, I was stuck for 2 hours. The problem was further compounded by inconsiderate users who use emergency lanes and then joining in the traffic when they reach the end lane. In normal social interaction, Malaysians are known for their politeness but when we’re on the road, we are different animal all together. This is where the ugly traits of human rear its head - selfishness. Me first, i don’t care about you.
Picture of the “Hero” Using Emergency Lane
It’s not like you will get to your destination faster by weaving in and out of the emergency lane. You’ll probably shave off few minutes but what if there is emergency vehicle wanting to use that lane? It did happen on that night. The emergency lane was jammed as well! I pray for whoever is in the ambulance will reach the hospital in time.
Tags: bad driving
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May 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
We need better enforcement of the Law. I noticed that Malaysians tend to view the Road Traffic Act as a guideline rather than a statute. Yesterday in the Star Newspaper a gentlemen wrote in regarding using Insurance premiums as an enforcement tool. I think this is a great idea. You break the law you pay the price.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Well people will break the rule when they know, that enforcement of the law is very rarely done.
In any traffic jam, most of these “heroes” will bulldoze the emergency lane. knowing very well, it is sure that there will be no police waiting to catch them (after all if there is a traffic jam, it is a sure bet there is no police personnels too), the kiasu mind will agree, “got police no jam”
Enforcement of the law in Malaysia is always at minimal level.
(If there is, why are PERODUA Kancils and PROTON Wira “armed” with HID lights)
Even the tinted glass issue which has popped in and out for YEARS, which clearly shows that Enforcement is NEVER carried out seriously.
Do these Enforcement personnels even dare to pull over and summon an expensive imported fully tinted, HID loaded vehicle?
Admin:
Actually there are plans for digital enforcement i.e cars armed with surveilance roaming the streets. But for now, we have the Private Eye via E-Suggestion for public to take action themself.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Probably it is due to psychological reason -> stress. I recall that while driving in America, the road users are so polite, always keep a distance and obey the law. They respect each other all the time even there is no law enforcer (cops) around. The lifestyle in USA is probably more relax compared with Malaysia. Sometimes they also rewards the people for driving safely. Malaysia only punish people instead of rewarding people as long as driving safety in concerned.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Well, most of us will agree that the problem here is ‘enforcement’ - lack of it. The authorities should really buck up. Hopefully, with this new portal and forum they will. Let’s all make Malaysia a better place to live and drive :)
May 30th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
First and foremost good behaviour start from young. Why don’t the government look into the education system. These young children should be tought and instill in them all the good human traits ( respect, tolerance etc…). more time should be allocated for this session.
Parents should also set good example when driving.
As for the existing ‘bad drivers’, the authorities concern such as the Police and JPJ should STRICTLY ENFORCE the law.
By the way please DO NOT gives DISCOUNT on compound issued.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
its a wake up call for the malaysian cops. wake up and go back to work.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:21 am
I agree with Waja that our best hope to change our road culture, which is generally quite bad, is with our children. Teach them everything about the need for road discipline and consideration for other road users. If, for example, their parents are habitual queue jumpers, ask them how they themselves will feel if they are the other party who waits patiently in line. Yes, schools should encourage students to criticise their parents while on the road when they break any laws. Believe me, kids have a great influence on adult behaviour as generally parents won’t want to look stupid in front of their own kids.
Admin:
This is in place! Currently we have a road safety education programme for young kids in primary 1 as part of the teaching syllabus. We are working closely with Ministry of Education to bring this programme across standard 2-6, secondary form 1-3.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
I personally travel between California and Kuala Lumpur every month or two. It is a big different driving in Malaysia and US. I think US has a very good system in place and everybody follow the system including the residents and the policemen. Here are some of my personal opinions, which i know it will never be implemented in Malaysia or at least in the next few years.
1. Rasuah. Nothing will work out with Rasuah. If the driver can easily pay RM50 to avoid the ticket or Pay RM50 in JPJ to make the Ticket “Tidak Sah”, then no other system can apply in this country. Period. I personally have experience on both of them. :)
2. Ticket can be settled by money forever. Moving ticket is a dangerous action toward the public. Any Moving Ticket should not be able to settle by just money forever. In US, you shouldn’t get 3 moving tickets in 18 months else your license will be gantung. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, it’s not about money, it’s about safety. Where in Malaysia, you can get as many tickets as possible and they will even give you bulk discount, like buying in volume. Drviers Credit system should be developed and enforced.
3. Driving Class and written test. Of course, no rasuah for both test. In US, you are required to retake the written test every time you renew your driving license every 5 years. It is important to remind the drivers about the laws, and new laws.
4. Insurance. Every moving ticket you receive will increase your insurance premium. This make sense because it proved that you are a dangerous driver, and your risk in running into accident are higher then other people. In US, your car insurance could be VERY EXPENSIVE, and you may get no insurance company to insure you if you get TOO MANY TICKETS.
Of course i do enjoy driving in Malaysia, because there are no law. :) Since Tickets can be settled by money, then work harder to make more money. Who cares about the ticket price then. The government do not intend to fix this problem, because their “Income” will be affected. So car accident will never reduce in this country. Well, what can we do? Drive a better car with more air bags in Malaysia.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
I’m not sure about the law in Malaysia, the picture showing above doesn’t show that the car is driving on emergency lane. In US, a car MUST have all 4 wheel off the line to consider driving on emergency lane. In the picture above, only 2 wheel are off the line, or at least there are only 2 wheel off the line when the picture being taken. By law, he is fine. :0
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Whether or not they’ve broken the law technically, it is rude to do what they do.
Education is key in solving this problem for the long term, immediate solution would be high enforcement success rate.
On coming blog entries we will relate to the public on what are the plans and all are welcome to comment/chip in their opinions.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:41 am
I drove to Penang and back over the weekend and to my horror there were over 10 accidents on the highway. My god driving is really getting dangerous here. I spotted a Transnational Bus on the highway 3rd lane doing 140 kmh, then later on near Tambun another express bus was on the fast lane, this time his tire blew and chunks of it started to hit my car. I kept on flashing and honking at him but the driver kept on going until the bus looked like its going to tumble over.
I think we all need to address this issue. We need to start using the horn on our cars. In UK if you made a silly mistake or tried to undertake another car, all the other cars will start to honk at you. Its very embarrassing and you will think twice of doing it. Try it, it works people tend to get “malu” here fast. So think abut it - Use your Horn and Save a Life Campaign.
Saudara kmrmuthusamy,
If you don’t mind to be a witness, you can file a complaint via e-suggestion and we will help you to bring this case for law enforcement action.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Penang drivers the worst….just parked their cars anywhere they want…Police plse do something….please
June 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Salam kepada semua, tidak dinafikan sebegitu ramai ‘driver’ kat Malaysia nie macam tak endah peraturan. Miinggu lepas, saya ke Perak melalui PLUS dari Sungai Buloh ke Bidor, laluan 3 lorong, memang selesa tetapi terdapat ketidak selesaan apabila ramai pemandu menggunakan laluan tengah sahaja sedangkan laluan paling kiri tiada kenderaan langsung.
Seperti laluan-laluan lain, contoh Jalan Kuching, MRR2 kebanyakan pemandu hanya duduk saja di laluan tengah tanpa menghiraukan pemandu lain. Mengapa ‘mindset’ pemandu sekarang begitu? Apakah dengan memandu di laluan tengah sambil ‘makan angin’ memberi keselesaan? Tetapi setahu saya semasa mengambil ujian memandu, masing-masing ikut peraturan kerana takut markah ‘drop’ dan tak dapat lesen.
Saya sendiri melihat sebuah kereta Myvi berpelekat ‘P’ memandu perlahan di laluan tengah di Jalan Kuching, di laluan kiri kosong, dan laluan paling kitri banyak kenderaan, apabila pemandu dibelakang membunyikan hon dan ‘flash light’, boleh pula MyVi tu tekan brek….
Jadi, apakah masalah para pemandu- pemandu sekarang, menggunakan jalan raya sebagai tempat makan angin atau sepatutnya memberi kerjasama kepada pemandu lain.
Sering juga saya lihat apabila Ambulans , Bomba, Polis yang hendak cepat (siren dan lampu dipasang) tetapi di ‘block’ oleh pemandu-pemandu.
Saya sendiri pernah dihimpit dan tersangkut di bumper kereta oleh pemandu kereta yang menukar laluan dengan cepat, sudahlah hendak pergi kerja pagi.
Jadi apakah rancangan / aktiviti yang paling sesuai untuk mengajar kembali pemandu-pemandu seperti itu?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Talking about rude driver, I came across one this evening. I was driving along Taman Megah Mas. As the tunnel leading to Ara Damansara was closed for repair, this alternate road became heavily congested.
Adding to this, a lorry was parking besides the road on the opposite side. I had the courtesy to slow down to let the on coming cars moved into my right side of the lane to drive pass the lorry. However, there came this middle age and ugly man in his blue proton wira. Despite that the traffic in front of him is in a stand still, he still drove his car and caused a halt to both ways of the traffic.
I made a signal to warn the follow cars to stop so that some of us could move to ease the traffic. All the sudden, he winded down his window and shouted at me to be patience and followed by a ‘F*** U’ word. I was shocked at how self centred a person could be. First of all, who was not patience? The drivers that decided that they could just force they way to the other side of the road or the drivers that have been letting the cars from the ‘wrong’ side to pass.
Anyway I am not surprised as many occassions in Malaysia, you can find inconsidered drivers who parked their cars and caused inconvenient to others, or drive recklessly. What make they time much more precious than others. If their cars were scratched or damaged due to their selfishness, the action on the cars were deemed as ‘vandalism’. What is the logic of this?
I think the Malaysia media and public has to come to realise what is right and what is wrong. If a car was damaged when it was parked at a illegal place, instead of potrait it as vandalism, the message should be illegal parking and selfish act of the driver… I hope our society will one day grow up…
As for the middle age, ugly and ‘impatience’ man who drive a blue wira proton… Your harsh comment, I only have one remark.. I bet you wish but not even in your dream. Yuck …