ROAD MANNERS: Curiosity causes highway crawls

Submitted by pekwan on Friday, December 18th, 2009

Friday, December 18th, 2009 10:24:00

FRUSTRATING: Some traffic congestions can be avoided. - Filepic

LIKE many city folk, I also took advantage of the recent long weekend during the Selangor State holiday to visit my parents in Taiping, Perak.

Unfortunately, the return trip turned out to be a nightmare as I spent more time inching along the highway instead of whizzing speedily home.

The problem, as I eventually found out, had nothing to do with accidents or broken down vehicles blocking the lanes.

The problem was caused by motorists who slowed down to gawk at cars that had broken down beside the highway!

While slowing down, in itself, is not wrong, think of the ripple effect it creates when the vehicles behind you slow down too.

From driving breezily at 110km/h, I suddenly found myself having to shift down to the second or even the first gear at times for kilometres at a stretch, thanks to the gawkers.

To avoid more unnecessary highway flow disruptions – since we are going to have a few long weekends in the coming weeks – the authorities should seriously look into various ways to stop gawking motorists slowing down traffic flow. Perhaps the authorities could provide a portable screen of sorts to conceal stalled cars or even accident scenes so as not to distract passing motorists from slowing down for a peek.

Just think of how much congestion could be avoided if only other motorists didn't become busybodies.

In fact, this simple solution of deflecting unwanted curiosity would even prevent accidents – which would create a bigger headache on the highways.

Reuben S
Taiping

Comments

If you don't slow down, how to get the number plate to buy 4D?

Submitted by Please stop the nonsense on Sunday, December 20th, 2009.

Submitted by Please stop the nonsense on Sunday, December 20th, 2009.

sorry, but i totally disagreed ...even lite-fm deejays blame the drivers slowing down at accident sites as the cause of jams.... questions: 1- depending on the severity of the accident, the site OFTEN CONTAIN DANGEROUS DEBRIS...r we SUPPOSE TO ZOOM PAST AT 180KMH with these debris laying on the road???????? 2- there may be victims trapped, laying on the road, or needing first aid, r we all suppose to simply overrun them? or zoom past by? 3- if the accident occured in the fast lane on a highway, cars travelling behind need to slow down to avoid ramming into the cars involved in the accident, or risk dying themselves (worst-case scenario)...so, they would slow down and cut into the middle lane, thus creating a domino effect... so, pls, think before u speak or blame others!!!

Submitted by ah beng on Saturday, December 19th, 2009.

Submitted by ah beng on Saturday, December 19th, 2009.

Same old story again ! What's wrong with us ? Is this a Malaysian phenomena or is it just human ? Probably the authorities should think of a minimum speed for the various lanes rather than only emphasising on maximun speed. Excessive speed is not the only cause of accidents; inappropriately slow speed can also cause problems and result in accidents. Please give some serious thought about setting minimun speeds for each lane in all the highways.

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, December 18th, 2009.

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, December 18th, 2009.

Ah, dont you realise that Malaysian drivers are known to be flippy "busy bodies" or "kay po chi"? They are slowing down not because of their concerns for the accident victims. They are looking for "empat ekor" numbers. Its such a common sight. IF there is an accident, drivers of passing vehicle not only slowed down to "gawk" but even stopped and parked their car haphazardly to watch. Usually there is nothing they can do. They are not doctors and are unable to render first aids. Probably help is already on the way. They have no business to be there other than just plain "kay po chi" right? Readers of this column, please, next time, when there is an accident on the roads, stop being a "kay po chi."

Submitted by Kay Po Chi on Friday, December 18th, 2009.

Submitted by Kay Po Chi on Friday, December 18th, 2009.

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