Has anyone ever seen a photo of the traffic situation on the roads at any time, say Jalan Raja Laut or Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur? To me, this in a nutshell is the problem with Malaysian driving and why the carnage on the road is never going to end.

 

Every other car is in a queue of their own, everyone thinks they have to get to their destination faster then the other car and so they have the right to drive in whatever manner they feel in order have to get there.

 

Cars are parked by the road shoulder, although this is one of the busiest lanes in KL. Bus routes are fair game. I have often used this road and always get steamed up at this sort of mayhem. The most frustrating part is that this is where KL City Hall is located.

Many of their enforcement vehicles are parked around their building perimeter but no one steps out and summons this mayhem-creator. At times, it is the DBKL vehicles which are not adhering to the traffic rules.

 

Everyone thinks that a quick dash somewhere and a quick park here and there creates no harm. I beg to differ. A small transgression is evident of the deep malaise in our attitude and consideration. Of our selfish attitude on the roads where we just think about ourselves.

One driving culture that I absolutely detest and abhor is double-parking along busy roads such as in Hartamas and Bangsar although ample parking is available. Until the time we can discipline our drivers to only drive in three lanes if it a three-lane road in a an immaculate, orderly fashion, our road accidents will never decrease.

I doubt it if we really can as our mindset - including the authorities’ - are not set on this total ‘overhaul’ mode that is required to eradicate this indiscipline. The police, RTD and local council enforcement officers don’t lead by example and do not stop and summon/point out road traffic transgressions when they see it.

They only do it if they are conducting a traffic operation somewhere, failing to appreciate that their job is a 24-hour job to regulate and control traffic and attitude. We are one of the most undisciplined and uncouth road users when compared to advanced nations and we are paying the price continuously in loss of lives.