First and foremost, I hate hate hate inconsiderate, reckless and incompetent drivers, which is why I read the article Lawless behaviour of motorists shocks JPJ chief with mixed feelings . I am disappointed and a little disgusted at the JPJ DG's ‘shocked’ reaction because that gave me the impression he doesn't get around much and has obviously not been exposed to the outright ridiculous levels of reckless driving that we ordinary people have to put up with on a daily basis, which in my opinion, has gotten much much worse in the last 10 years.
Reckless drivers now perform illegal and dangerous manouevres that we couldn't possibly imagine they would one day do like driving on one-way roads in the wrong direction and driving purposely into a yellow box area in order to be the first off the mark when the light turns green. I am pleased, however, that the DG has urged people to send in photographic evidence of offending vehicles so that they can be booked.
There is a little element of risk involved in advocating this, of course, as we wouldn't want to see people end up in accidents as they try to take photos of reckless drivers (especially if one is driving alone). With regard to the DG's suggestion, I am still sceptical because I am not convinced that real action would be taken against traffic offenders even if we send in these photos.
There used to be a website (I can't recall the name though) that encouraged people to email them or upload photos not only of reckless drivers but also those who parked in spots designated for disabled drivers and so on. I'm not sure if that website was linked at all to JPJ or whether JPJ even knew it existed. If JPJ was aware, I seriously wonder if any action was ever taken against those offenders.
I am a strong advocate of taking photos of offenders – something I have done over the last few years but have never got around to checking if JPJ would actually encourage and enforce the law on the back of the photographic evidence. I have also sent numerous SMSes to the 39900 hotline over the years with regard to buses, lorries and cabs, but one never knows what has been done about those complaints.
It kinda makes you disillusioned too, wondering if they're making fools out of you, and at the end of the day, the telcos are getting richer. For all we know, JPJ gets a cut from the SMS rate charged by the telco! (Okay, now I'm getting incredibly cynical but hey, do you blame me?). I would like to ask the JPJ DG a very simple question - ‘How do we know if action has been taken against these offenders if we were to send in these photos or video clips? Is there a system through which they can convince us that the law has been enforced?’
We are all aware that implementation is the weakest point in the system of delivery in most government departments in this country – enforcement is often hampered by a lack of commitment, corruption, sheer irresponsibility (the 'tidak apa' attitude) and incompetence. JPJ can't even enforce the wearing of helmets by motorcyclists or the blatant flouting of window- tinting regulations in cars (that's something you don't have to be driving on the roads to catch; you can just sit by the side of the road and count them as they go past you).
In any case, most CCTVs placed at traffic intersections etc probably don't even work properly, if in fact, they were meant to be used to record traffic offences and not just to ‘deter motorists’. Many campaigns and awareness road shows in Malaysia are carried out with a large amount of fanfare but there is never any follow-up similar to our recycling campaigns.
It is the trademark of the government that millions and perhaps billions are spent on the publicity and promotion for a short time but these may not be the most effective ways. Besides, how do you tell school kids that overtaking on double-white lines and not signalling are wrong when their parents and siblings do it all the time? Malaysians aren't really civic-conscious by nature, and therefore lack the initiative to ‘report’ wrongdoings or things that are out of order, such as traffic lights.
The government makes no effort at promoting civic behaviour by not making information signboards bigger, eg. signboards with telephone numbers for fault reporting to the local councils or the concessionaire. The media can do so much more but the level of reporting leaves a lot to be desired generally. I would have loved to read in the same article about how the JPJ would be making sure that motorists get booked, or other important details like the other hotlines to call (eg. 39900, which I found out through the article below, is a little outdated!) for different categories fo complaints.
Other details that should have been in the article would have been on how to make a complaint. Now, you may think that the public actually has common sense but in fact it ain't that common. People have to be told what details are needed to make a proper complaint (eg. The date, time, place, car number, car make and actual complaint). The article gives an e-mail address for complaints but is there a SMS number where we can also text the JPJ for complaints about private vehicles?
In this article , there are still buses in the Klang Valley, especially RapidKL ones, that have not updated the information on the back of the buses to the ‘recently-launched’ (August 2009) LPKP hotline number of 15888 dan toll-free number of 1-800-88-9600 – both meant for complaints about the reckless driving of commercial vehicles.
There is no concerted, integrated effort between the various departments and agencies as is often the case where ‘the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing’ (eg, our public transport
system). As everyone knows, it's usually because of vested interests that our country is so messed up on so many levels. JPJ should look into other root causes why people drive so badly in Malaysia – my guess is that 50% of all motorcyclists have fake or no licences, and many people still ‘buy’ their licences.
This is a bit of a rant but I am so sick of reckless drivers on the roads. I'm certain that all the conscientious and considerate drivers in the country would be more than happy to assist the JPJ in making our roads safer for everyone but we need to see that JPJ is doing more to clampdown on these irresponsible idiots that are endangering our lives out there.
