BEWARE: all laws are meant to be broken (ATTN: Director-General of Road Safety Dept)

A recent accident outraged me and I am ever more disappointed with the authorities in Malaysia. I know this is a common sight/incident, *sighs, anyways, here is what happened, how it happened and what will be happening...

I now present to you 2 recent news : What is the use of an Emergency Lane:

1.

(* Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/29/nation/19876775&sec=nation&focus=1 *) Emergency lane not for stalled vehicles PUTRAJAYA: The emergency lane is actually a traffic lane meant for use by authorities such as the Fire and Rescue Department, the police and ambulances, Road Safety Department director-general Datuk Suret Singh reminded motorists. It is not intended for drivers to stop at the lane or to carry out repairs on stalled vehicles, he added. “It is extremely dangerous when vehicles are parked at emergency lanes, in the lane for traffic,” he told reporters yesterday. Suret Singh said the right thing to do was to move the car to the road shoulder and ensure the vehicle does not obstruct the emergency lane. “If there is no road shoulder, the stalled vehicle can be left on the emergency lane but only for a short period pending assistance. A safety triangle must be placed some distance behind the car to warn other motorists. “Drivers and passengers of the stalled vehicle should stay away from the car. Pick a safe place to wait. Repair work should not be conducted on the emergency lane,” he added. Suret Singh said if repair works were needed, a tow truck or highway patrol vehicle must be summoned immediately to tow away the vehicle. He was commenting on an accident last week in which an express bus ploughed into two men who were attending to a car on the emergency lane at the 263rd kilometre of the North-South Expressway near Seremban. Mohd Hanif Mohd Noor, 29, from Kg Air Tawar in Merlimau, Malacca, was driving to Bandar Baru Bangi with his mother and two younger siblings to visit a sister when his car broke down. Mechanic Palaneysamy Ratnam, 26, from Taman Mambau Jaya, near here, had arrived to check the car parked on the emergency lane. However, as both were checking the car, the bus which had just entered the highway hit them, killing both instantly. --> http://blog.thestar.com.my/permalink.asp?id=20708

2.

(* Source:http://new.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20090728183455/Article/index_html )

Emergency lane stop costs man his life

2009/07/28

KUANTAN, Tues: A man who stopped his car at an emergency lane to let his girlfriend take over the steering wheel, paid with his life yesterday.

In that split-second, Md Aqmal Abdul Hadi’s car was rammed from behind, by another car at the 125.9km stretch of the East Coast Expressway near here.

The impact caused the 21-year-old’s car to be dragged 25 metres before both vehicles ended in the middle of the road about 2pm.

State traffic enforcement officer ASP Zainalabidin Othman said today that Md Aqmal, who was pinned to his seat, was killed on the spot.

He said the victim’s unidentified girlfriend sustained a broken shoulder.

Meanwhile, a Felda settler was killed yesterday when the motorcycle he was riding, collided with a car at the 60.7km Jalan Temerloh-Bandar Jengka near Jerantut.

Za’beri Ayob, 51, who sustained head and chest injuries, died on the spot in the crash about 1pm. -- BERNAMA
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If I have a chance to write to this high ranking official in the Road Safety Department, this is how it will go:

Dear Datuk Suret Singh,

In a simple term, please define the proper usage of Emergency Lane.

Of course, emergency lane is for an emergency usage...by all means that is a common sense. But what actually qualify a situation as an emergency? Is it an emergency if: Your car is about to break down? You have to answer an emergency call but you do not have a handsfree set ready at hand? You are too tired to drive on until the next R&R to let your friend take over the driving task?

If either one of the above happens, do one treat it as an emergency and pull over to the emergency lane (and wait for help)?

If either one of the above happens and one do NOT pull over but continues moving on; dragging the car even though he/she senses that the car is about to break down...answer the phone call with one hand on the steering and another hand on the phone...or drive on until he/she sees a R&R; what will happen?

Obviously, in the first scenario, the car will eventually break down in the middle of the road (or on the slow lane, since the driver already anticipated the break down and thus, try to move as slow as possible to avoid any accident) and cause a massive road congestion. On the other hand, in the second scenario, the driver loses concentration on the road when he/she is focusing on the EMERGENCY phone call (mind you, not a mere chit-chat type of conversation) and somehow lead to an accident. Whereas if it's the third scenario, the driver loses concentration, dozes off and subsequently causes an accident.

It all makes sense, don't it?

Now, if the wise o' Datuk said that stalled vehicle cannot stop on the emergency lane or in his exact words : these cars can only stop for a short period pending assistance -- how would he define a short period? 30 minutes? 1 hour? 2 hours? or is it a day?

If Datuk says that a short period is defined by 1 hour, then I must say that I strongly believe that his good self has not ever experienced a car break down before. Ever. My best bet, with all due respect, you don't even drive a national car (not to say national car is lousy but sometimes, we do doubt the QC) and thus will not feel the anxiety anyways. (Heck...I am sure most people notice that most govt department own an international vehicle. Hm..now I wonder why..)

As an example, in Kuala Lumpur, if you car decided that it is too weak to go on and break down in the morning/evening/peak hours/isolated area, do you think that the tow truck is able to rescue you in an hour time? In my case when my car got ramped by a motorcyclist somewhere near LCCT, I waited for almost 3 hours for the tow truck to come to my rescue. Blardy 3 hours! The reason was that the truck got stuck in a jam while on his way to LCCT. What's more: the company has got only 1 available truck for me!

Now, if Datuk think that a stalled car can only be on the emergency lane for only an hour...oh my, I wonder how would the traffic police enjoy himself over issuing me a summon.

There, why would my one and only car got crashed by a motorcyclist (so badly that the rear of my car got wrecked completely, lamps broken, windows shattered and boot dented)? All because I have this really important call which I have to take with full concentration and thus, I have to completely halt all motions and just concentrate on my phone call. I'm a woman driver and as most men would agree, we are commonly known as a lousy driver who can't multi-task behind the wheel and so, it is only of common sense as well as of a safety assurance for me to pull over (and turn on my hazard light) for a brief 5 minutes to answer this important phone call. Should I not pull over, I will get so emotionally affected till the state that I may not be able to continue my drive.

During my 3rd minute on the call, out of a sudden, a SKILLFUL motorcyclist sped right behind me ON THE EMERGENCY LANE and WHAM...he ramped right onto the rear of my Kelisa, injured himself unconscious and thereby causing a massive damage to my car.

By right, NO ONE has the rights to use the EMERGENCY LANE for normal driving/biking/riding/non-emergency purpose. It's just too sad that our Town Planner does not have an efficient motorbike network especially designed for motorcyclists -- forcing them to use roads for motorcars.

However, that doesn't mean that they are allowed to use emergency lanes -- as applied to any other road users (bikes, trucks, lorries, trailers, cars, etc etc).

Well, anyways, at the moment when I'm writing this, the motorcyclist who crashed my car, is still in the hospital. Yes, it was that bad. I reported to the police of course -- the first party to turn to when a civilian felt that they are being threatened. Now, I could had recorded the whole conversation but then again...I AM IN MALAYSIA. Therefore, a lil' voice told me that I should get out of trouble and pay up whatever fee that they requested me to. On what ground?

On the ground that I (and that SKILLFUL motorcyclist) broke the law. Both of us are not supposed to stop or drive on the emergency lane.

HAHAHA.

Then, please do enlighten me. What is the use of an emergency lane? For emergency purposes and not for anyone to use the lane as part of the road to travel. On my part, I do think that I should not be blamed/penalized!

There we go Datuk. You could be more specific and justified in your choice of words. The very least that you can do is to be fair.

Yours truly,
Disgruntled driver jenz

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p/s: dear all..to avoid experiencing my situation, NEVER EVER stop on the emergency lane. You'll get fined anyways regardless if you are stopping for the right reason or not.

thank god though, I've got a wonderful insurance agent who is responsible and dedicated enough to help me through this painful ordeal dealing with all the focking blardy people.

thank god that dumbass motorcyclist didn't die from that accident else my car would have got confiscated to be used a an evidence. evil I may sound but that damn fool should have open his eyes big enough to see my small little kelisa with its hazard lights on! Moreover, the car was stationary!
What I truly wanted to tell him is that : "Go ahead and die at wherever (or whatever way) you want to (in that, you have the rights) but DO NOT involve innocent people! Bugger..."

My poor honeybee car.....disfigured...