Malaysian Drivers

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I am now an official Malaysia driver license’s holder. I am not really that excited for having it since I am only given the ‘P’ license (the ‘trial’ license). But the P license is not the point that I want to highlight in this post. It’s the Malaysian drivers that really make me want to dedicate this particular post to them. You should see them drive man. It’s…..scary. And one thing for sure, they are turning me into an angry driver. Here are some of the lists how they significantly contribute to the high level of anger and frustration within me at the moment:

1) When they made turns or changed lanes, they didn’t give signals. – Why in the world didn’t they give the signals? Let me give you one real case scenario. I was at a junction wanting to make a left turn and the cars were coming from my right. What an intelligent driver would do is that they would stop and give the cars their right of ways. And that’s exactly what I did. But the next thing I know, all these cars (yes, in plural forms) turned left into the junction when I thought they were actually going straight. What made me think that they wanted to go straight you ask? Well, they didn’t turn on the signal lamps. If they had given me the signals, I would have known that they were actually going to make a turn and I didn’t need to stop and looked like an idiot, stopping at the junction for absolutely no reason. OK, this is starting to make me angry now.

2) Motorcycles. Oh, where do I start? You know, I always heard that the motorcyclists are at risks on the road due to the existence of the big cars (well, excuse us for buying big cars). But somehow, I don’t think that the cars are at fault all the time. Just look how they ride their motorcycles. They don’t give signals, sometimes they don’t wear the helmets, they forcefully make their way between cars even though the gap/space is only two inches bigger than the diameter of their motorcycles, they drive in the MIDDLE of the highways at low speed and the most dangerous part is that they are riding as if they are one of the participants for MotoGP tournament and Valentino Rossi is their nose-to-nose competitor. And we, the car drivers, are the ones who have to be worried and have to try not to knock over them. subhanallah.

3) Lorries. They are big but their sizes are not to be blamed. The drivers are just, simply dangerous. They drive at high speed. They make turns at their own likes, they don’t look right and left (my theory is that they know that the other vehicles would feel inferior enough to stop and give them the way). And, they give no signal some more. grrrr..

4) Pedestrian. OK, i don’t have any problem with them because personally to me, they are always right. I usually would rightfully stop at the zebra crossings to allow them to safely cross the streets. (and the car behind me would honk at me for being “too kind” – sigh-)

I owe to the Americans in a way that, they were the ones who taught me how to drive. I first got my driver license in New York. They were not only giving me my first driver license but they taught me how to drive safely, correctly and considerately. I drove in the US for almost three years and I was a peaceful driver back then. The NJ turnpikes, NY thruways, highways to Pennsylvania, Vermont and Chicago; I cruised them all but I can’t recall the moment when I was going totally ‘grrr’ at other drivers.

In Malaysia, I have been cruising along the LDP, PLUS, Sprint highway and Federal Highway for almost 3 months now and I am already an angry driver. Two nights ago, I honked for the first time in my life! By the way, that car deserved it. He tried to change into my lane, without the signal and while I was right next to him! My honk had perfectly brought him back to his own lane.

There is one thing that I want to do and keep as a habit : to be an American driver in Malaysia. It’s hard. But I’ll try. And Malaysia, next time you want to make turns or change lanes, just give me the signal….please? After all, it’s for our own safety. To those Malaysian drivers who have been driving safely on the road (and had given signals to me), you are the best.