Madness of Malaysians on the highways

A DRIVE on our highways on any given day will expose the attitude and driving behaviour of Malaysian drivers.

Drivers of heavy vehicles and cars seem to have only one mission when they get behind the steering wheel – to accelerate to the maximum speed irrespective of the limit on the highway.

I sometimes wonder whether drivers of express buses and heavy vehicles with trailers know their speed limit is either 80kph or 90kph. Do they even know their speed limit is pasted on the back of their vehicles?

If you drive on the highway, you will know that many of these drivers just ignore the speed limit. Most even use the emergency lane, and drive beyond 100kph! A man was hit and killed by a trailer lorry early this year while changing a tyre on the emergency lane near the Dungun expressway.

Drivers of small lorries also ignore the speed limit, overtake cars and weave in and out of the fast lane. At the toll booths, it is common to see drivers of small lorries moving into lanes meant for cars just to beat the queue. The sign “For cars only” is in bright red but drivers of small lorries do not seem to notice it.

Many heavy vehicle drivers also seem to be under the impression that the speed limit on the expressway showing 110kph is for all vehicles and so they obedi- ently keep to it, never mind the limit stated on the back of their vehicle.

And how can any sane driver not notice the super cars on the fast lane of our expressways? These cars are driven with their headlights on. If drivers of cars on the fast lane are slow in overtaking, these speedsters flash their headlights from a distance and scare the living daylights out of the former. These cars are driven at incredible speed; one minute they are at a distance but within seconds, they are breathing down your back.

And do not be shocked if you see a Kancil or Viva speeding on the fast lane behind these powerful cars!

Then there are the super bikers who weave in and out of the lanes at God knows what speed. It’s a case of now you see them, now you don’t.

Finally, there are the Mat Rempit, sometimes 15 to 20 of them in one group, speeding on the highway while performing stunts on their kap chai.

Strict enforcement of the law on our expressways is of utmost importance so that drivers of all vehicles follow the rules and adhere to the speed limit to prevent our highways from becoming killing fields.