Road users must learn to cope with heavy traffic and ill-mannered drivers on Malaysian roads, but one experience leaves them more frustrated and angry than normal; when they are stopped by police outriders and forced to squeeze their vehicle close to a monsoon drain, kerb, or another vehicle so that a swollen-headed, top-ranking Little Napoleon may reach his destination smoothly and without delay.

The frustrations increase if one happens to live in an area where a Little Napoleon has his official residence. Every trip will entail at least one encounter with police outriders, as this person goes to and from work or to a function.

Polite and courteous police outriders are few and far between, we are normally confronted by rude and uncompromising police outriders.

One driver had the shock of his life when a police outrider rode his bike straight towards him. He said, “An official entourage was approaching from the opposite direction. I slowed down when I saw the flashing headlights and heard the siren.

“One police outrider crossed the dividing white line and drove straight at us. My wife and daughter were afraid that there would be a head-on collision. The motorbike was coming at high speed.

“Police outriders act like Mat Rempits with official uniforms and badges. Both terrorise ordinary road-users. Both act as if they are above the law.”

Another road user said, “A police outrider once kicked the side of my car to force me off the road. I was not risking my car being lodged in the monsoon drain, so I ignored him.

“It would have been pointless making a police report about the dent on my car door. In my experience, lodging police reports on burglaries have been disappointing. Why add another frustrating encounter with the police?”

Those who have been stopped by police outriders seethe with rage, not just because of the policemen’s unbecoming conduct, but also because of the following reasons.

First. Does the person who is being escorted deserve the use of police outriders?

Second. Why should other legitimate road users be inconvenienced, just so this person wants to arrive, at his destination quickly?

Third. Many road users have complained that auxiliary policemen are frequently used as police outriders. Are auxiliary policemen permitted to become outriders?

Many people would like to see a list of those who are entitled to use police outriders on the Net, so they can see who abuses their position at the rakyat’s expense. There are allegations that a well-connected businessman uses police outriders even when he makes regular trips to hospital.

Do you remember the recent arrest of a few men who caused chaos on the roads as they stopped traffic, just because a Bentley owner, alleged to be the special adviser to a leading politician, wanted his convoy to drive to Petaling Jaya quickly? This Bentley owner was not arrested but his friends, the fake ‘security escorts’, were.

Creative and enterprising spirit

Some Malaysians have a creative and enterprising spirit, and sometimes their ingenuity exceeds the limits of acceptability. Two men purchased old police motorbikes and should have erased the police markings, but omitted to do this. They then offered their services as police outriders.

The fake outriders were caught because alert traffic policemen noticed that the outriders’ uniforms and helmets were slightly different from the ones issued by the force.

There were allegations that these fake outriders were escorted to the nearest police station, along with the VIP’s entourage. One hopes the outriders and the wannabe very-important-person received a hefty punishment for their folly.

Former chief minister of Malacca Ali Rustam suggested that ministerial and luxury cars should be allowed to break the highway speed limit of 110kph and drive at 165kph. He claimed that ministers were “important people”, who needed to get to their appointments on time.

Is Ali Rustam familiar with time management?

Important people also tend to ignore the massive fines they owe the government, because important people like Ali allegedly often break the law. (Ali allegedly owed several thousand ringgit in road fines at the time he made this absurd suggestion of exceeding the speed limit.)

For years, the police outriders of the recently retired Kuala Lumpur mayor, who lived in Kenny Hills, would regularly stop traffic as the mayor’s car made its way to his office.

He was one person who could have made a difference; but he could not be bothered to experience the frustrations of KL road-users, who have to endure severe traffic jams at peak hours.

So, will his successor dispense with the outriders and experience the mayhem of KL traffic, then provide some useful solutions to the traffic problems?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.