One of the recent solutions put forth is to introduce jail time for those found flaunting traffic regulations on their motorcycles.
AFTER spending a couple of days working in Hanoi, Vietnam, a thought hit me.
Hanoi is known for many things including the chaotic traffic. Some refer to it as controlled chaos, and I can’t think of any other way to better describe the roads of Hanoi.
It takes a combination of luck, skill and patience to survive the streets of Hanoi, and perhaps other parts of Vietnam as well but I have not travelled the length and breadth of Vietnam to confirm that so let’s leave assumption out of this and focus on Hanoi.
Traffic lights are treated as a suggestion; motorcycles travel in an atomic manner with no clear direction. It almost seems as if the riders go where their noses may point.
Crossing the roads as a pedestrian is more a test of nerves than obliging traffic rules. After spending some time in Vietnam, I have learnt to hold my breath, cross the road and hope for the best. It has worked so far since my bones are still intact.
And the honking in Hanoi is just a notch under India where honking is a way of life.
Getting around Hanoi is best done on a motorcycle because of the traffic situation. But even then motorcycles too seem to get stuck.
So, what about the thought that hit me? It almost seems as if Malaysian traffic is headed down the same path, especially when it comes to motorcycles.
Malaysian motorcyclists have developed near zero regard for traffic rules and zero fear for the consequences of breaking the laws.
Just like Vietnam, our motorcyclists have zero respect for traffic lights and pedestrians. They also have developed zero respect for traffic enforcement since there are motorcyclists now that ride around without helmets.
I say this with utmost respect for our Vietnamese counterparts, but Malaysian motorcyclists are heading down a very dangerous path, and it almost seems as if our traffic police are powerless to stop it.
If we don’t put a stop to this soon, Malaysian motorcyclists too will be the same as Vietnam and our regional peers and that is not a good thing because that will just increase our accident rates and in turn, insurance premiums will go up for all of us.
But why do the authorities seem so powerless? We see motorcyclists breaking the rules every single day in one way or another. There must be an answer to this and if the solution to this means adding a bigger workforce to the traffic police department, then so be it.
It is much better to have safer roads for all of us and be the leader in regional road safety than the position we find ourselves in. Our road safety standards are already so low that it really would not be too difficult to reverse it.
One of the recent solutions put forth is to introduce jail time for those found flaunting traffic regulations on their motorcycles.
Why just jail them since that takes up previous public funds? I say just cane them! I ride a motorcycle on a daily basis, and you cannot imagine the things some motorcyclists are guilty of.
Some of it includes riding on pedestrian footpaths, not slowing down in school areas, riding without head or taillights and more. All of this without mentioning illegal racing on major highways and not stopping for traffic lights.
So, I say don’t just jail us motorcyclists if we break the rules because that is too easy. But cane us even if only for one stroke of the all-conquering rotan.
I’ll offer to be the first one to get caned if I am found to be breaking the rules on a motorcycle if that means safer roads for future generations.
If you cannot make them respect the law, perhaps get them to fear it because the path that we are on right now is a very dangerous one already.