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Driving Skills 101: Driving on the Wrong Side of Road

Wrong Side of the Road

(Another car on the wrong side of the road – this was from 2017 where a 21-year-old man was killed when a BMW, travelling against the traffic, rammed into his Perodua MyVi at Jalan Tun Razak near the National Library. Photo source: NST)

There was a time when I drive to work; there is a road that leads from the office to the main road leading into the Federal Highway. This is a known choke point and pretty much crawling at peak hours. So once the right side of the lane jammed up, impatient drivers will then start driving on the wrong side of the road to bypass the traffic and make illegal entry to the main road, compounding the traffic jam at this point. I lost count of the times when I will turn into this slip road only to face off with drivers driving on the wrong side of the road.

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On worse days, I can’t even able to enter this road because both lanes will be fully occupied. It will take a lot of honking, swearing and show of middle finger to these morons before they squeeze to make way to the rightful traffic. I even reported this to the JPJ on several occasions but no concrete enforcement took place when I was still encountering these drivers. But recently I noticed such incidents of drivers driving on the wrong side of the road have actually stopped.

In Malaysia, unfortunately, we had a series of incidents where we have morons driving past other road users on the wrong side of the road.

Recently this happened just last month:-

The woman who was caught driving at high speed against traffic along Jalan Pandan Indah in a viral video has been arrested. Selangor Traffic Investigations and Enforcement Department chief Supt Azman Shari’at said the arrest was made on Wednesday (Aug 21) after the 27-year-old driver presented herself at the Ampang Jaya police station.

“The driver confessed to being the person in the video. She was driving against the flow of traffic while going home because she had entered the wrong lane. She then panic and continued driving in hopes of exiting the lane as quickly as possible,” he said when contacted Thursday.

(Source)

In some cases, this only ended tragically:-

The young girl who drove against traffic on the North-South Expressway (NSE), crashing into a number of vehicles two years ago, told the Magistrate’s Court here today that she had merely wanted to head back in the right direction. Ng Pei Ven, now 21, said she had driven her Proton Gen 2 slowly with her hazard lights on, adding that it was her first time on the expressway. She said she had panicked and come to a complete stop long before crashing into the other vehicles.

She said she could not remember how long she had been stationary on the opposite lane before a Perodua Kelisa crashed into her. She said she recalled yanking on the steering wheel in an attempt to dodge the oncoming cars before coming to a stop.

Ng, who was 19 years old at the time, was charged with causing the death of the Kelisa driver, Mohamad Fandi Rosli, on March 24, 2017 at KM134 of the expressway by way of reckless driving under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987. She faces a maximum jail sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of RM20,000 if she is found guilty.

(Source)

And 2 years ago, this happened tragically as well:-

City Traffic Investigation and Legal Affairs staff officer Deputy Supt Shafie Daud said the 2.40am accident occurred when the BMW driver entered the opposing direction from the KLCC tunnel and was not able to re-enter the correct lane.

“The 23-year-old BMW driver then continued on the wrong way and crashed into the MyVi at Jalan Tun Razak.

“The MyVi driver killed on the spot while the BMW driver sustained minor injuries. The MyVi driver was alone during the accident and BMW driver was with three passengers.

(Source)

(This is another incident happened back in 2018 – another moron on the wrong side of the road)

What dumb excuses that these morons are giving to explain why they were on the wrong side of the road!!

  • Took the wrong turn – by ignoring road signs and common sense?
  • Panicked – but continued to drive fast and pose danger to others?
  • Alerted others by leaving the double signal on – ya as if others will be anticipating a driver on the wrong side of the road
  • Not familiar with the highway – the driver did not go through driving school or pass the driving test? Did she think that highways had a different rule from all other roads in the country?
  • Unable to find the right way back – to continue to drive instead of pulling over to the emergency lane?
  • Was high on drugs or alcohol?

Of course, the lawyers will heavily be depending on the notion that she was diagnosed with a learning disability in 2011 and was unable to communicate or understand things clearly. A fact that compounds that she should not have been driving in the first place!

In the United States, about 355 people are killed each year in crashes caused by drivers headed in the wrong direction on the highway.

I don’t have the statistics for Malaysia but it seems like it is at least once a year but incidents of drivers on the wrong side of the road probably be countless and happens on a daily basis. It is only that no one got killed or seriously injured.

Firstly it is difficult to be on the wrong side of the highway – mainly because you need to pass through the toll booth. On smaller trunk roads or parts of the highway where it is not tolled, this is possible (provided you are really dumb and don’t use GPS or Wave apps to ensure you are on the right side of the road).

And let’s say due to some dumb reasons, you find yourself on the wrong side of the road. What you need to do next is rather simple – firstly don’t panic and stop your car by the side of the road or the emergency lane (in some instances drive to parking lots) and even it is safe to do so, make a U-turn so that you are back on the right side of the road. Never put on your high beams that will blind the on-coming traffic but put on the hazard light.

In cases where it is not possible to drive back to the right side of the road, simply call the police or the highway authorities for assistance. Don’t keep dumb and continue driving.

No one should be dying from your stupidity.

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