It’s quite alarming really, just how bad things have gotten out on our roads these days. I did a short count on-line this morning at a social media site, and there were no less than ten posts dedicated to people who park badly, queue-jumpers causing jams, incidents of road-rage, on-board video recordings of cars racing on public roads, busses driving like they’re in an F1 race, drivers making illegal U-turns and running over motorcyclists, and of course our own national cyclist getting hit by an SUV, which is what prompted this article really.
As both a driver and rider who commutes daily, I’m in a unique position to be able to observe the goings-on from both sides of the fence, and yes I have to admit, Malaysian drivers and bikers can be quite an inconsiderate bunch of lunatics at times. But are we bad drivers? Let’s find out.
First-off, and this needs to be said right away to put things into perspective, just because you’ve been driving for a decade or more, it does not necessarily make you a good driver. It just means you ‘have been driving for a decade or more’, that’s all. We learn all we need to know about driving a car in the first six-months of driving and after that, it’s all repetition. The problem is, we tend to pick up bad driving habits in that first year or so, and that gets repeated too. Unfortunately, we’ve picked up a lot of bad driving habits over the years.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the only way to become a better driver is to attend an ‘advanced driving’ course, or learn from someone who’s attended one or more of these courses. They don’t happen very often, perhaps they should, but when they do, you’d be wise to invest a little bit of time and money attending one, because let’s face the truth, the ‘driving lessons’ that everyone attends in order to get a driver’s license are merely a formality. The curriculum is geared (pun intended) to let you do exactly that, get a driver’s license; they don’t teach you to be a good driver.
Secondly, and I think I’m simply stating the obvious here, there are just too many cars on the road. The analogy for driving in town that I like to use, is that of a snooker table with a hundred red balls. The table isn’t getting any bigger, so sooner or later, those balls are going to hit each other. The law of averages practically demands that sooner or later, those balls are going to meet. It’s the same on our roads.
I’ve observed that apart from the ridiculous ‘bottle-necks’ that some of our main roads culminate to – six lanes merging into two at some areas – traffic snarls can be attributed to three very bad driving habits that’s plaguing Malaysian drivers; I call them the “3-I’s”: Impatience, Indecision and Inconsideration.
Impatience: Everyone knows the rule, emergency lanes are for emergencies only, and yet not a day goes by that we don’t see motorists ploughing down the emergency lane in an effort to save, what, 30 seconds by passing 10 cars illegally? Of course sooner or later said cars are going to have to eventually cut back into the main road, and of course (again) other drivers would sooner have their wisdom teeth removed with a screwdriver than let them cut in front of them, so what happens? Another bottleneck, only this time through no fault of the road design, because if everyone kept to their lane, there wouldn’t be a bottleneck at the end. Case in point, note the picture below where some are waiting for the last possible minute to cut left, thus causing one lane which should otherwise be clear to clog up.
Indecision: You’ve seen them; cars that occupy both the fast and overtaking lane, straddling the white line only because either they don’t know where they’re going, or worse, they don’t want to move into one lane only to find that the lane they just left suddenly moves faster! So they ‘hover’ over two lanes, only to dive into the one that moves slightly quicker than the other, and then hover again when both lanes slow down.
I’ve saved the worst for last – Inconsideration: We’re becoming a bunch of ingrates on the road, really. What’s happened to common courtesy? The other day I let a lady in a Honda City cut out in front of me and she didn’t even nod in appreciation, because she was too busy on her phone. I then realised that had I not slowed down to let her cut into my lane, she’d have hit me, because she didn’t even realise I was there, and only looked my way after she was already halfway in, half her face covered by her ‘smart’ phone.
Seriously, how much time would we lose if we all exercised a little more courtesy on the road? Negligible. I’ve begun to actively let other motorists cut in front of me, and give way when I clearly have the right of way, just to see if I get any acknowledgement whatsoever. Sadly, yes I counted, out of ten times, I received only ONE wave of thanks. I fervently believe that it’s because of this lack of common courtesy to say ‘thank you’ by simply waving your hand, that’s led to this ‘every man for himself’ attitude when it comes to driving, and I have proof!
In another experiment I conducted recently, I was the one doing the cutting in and out, only this time, I made sure the other driver who let me cut in saw my ‘thanks’, which consisted of a wave, smile and a thumbs-up. Yes, a bit extreme I admit, but I wanted to prove something to myself…
I have a theory that courtesy begets courtesy and the opposite it also true. Every action has a reaction and if that action is one of hostility and aggression, that’s what you receive in return as well. Anyway, my theory was that if I made it seen and known that I was grateful to a fellow motorist, it would spread, and sure enough it did. Drivers that I’d cut in front of who were shown acknowledgement and gratitude actually allowed other motorists to cut-in in front of them. They were also more willing to slow down if ‘asked’ (holding up a hand to ask to cut in) rather than just barging into their lane.
Unfortunately as proven countless times, most drivers are simply not that courteous, choosing instead the ‘I’m cutting in whether you like it or not, so you better stop’ attitude of driving, with not a hint of thanks afterward. This action of course, begets the exact opposite reaction; other drivers will speed-up to make sure you don’t get your way. Isn’t it amazing that something as simple as this can lead to all-out road-rage?
There are two-sides to every coin of course, but I honestly believe that if we could eliminate the 3 ‘I’s’ from our driving habits, and especially be a bit more courteous and considerate to others on the road, it would make driving in town at least a lot more tolerable, if not enjoyable, for all of us. Let’s face it, we’re all in this together, drivers, bikers, cyclists, etc. and it’s not like we’re on the road 24/7 anyway, so let’s try to make the time that we are a more pleasant experience shall we? Try this: ‘Pay it Forward’ – the next time you’re shown some road courtesy, don’t just wave a thanks, do something similar for the next random motorist who wants to do what you just did.
This situation won’t change overnight, but it can change, it just takes time to catch on, and as cliché as it sounds, we are the only ones who can make a difference. Who’s with me?
