Macam ni pun BOLEH?
“The authorities are considering a ban on all handsfree usage while driving. Before you enter your car, it is advisable to put your phone in silent mode.”
By avancc
This piece of news I heard over the radio today came as a joke to me. Although I do laud the call for more road safety, I can’t help but laugh at the
inconsiderate “authorities” on their criterions before making a call or decision. Can’t they do a survey first before making statements which will have
to be retracted later? This will only make Malaysia’s authorities appear as a flip-flop government who can’t make sound decisions.
Accidents caused by usage of handphone during driving are many. However, compared to accidents caused by drunk driving, which is more fatal? Moreover, if the handsfree is used, the driver is in fact having both hands on the wheel. He will only need to pause his conversation should he face an obstruction on the road that needs his attention more. What is wrong with that?
Ok. Lets forget about that point for a while. Malaysian drivers spend an average of 2 – 3 hours on the road, especially in a traffic jam. Now in 2 – 3 hours a lot of things could happen. What if there is an urgent call from a family member? What if someone is in trouble and the driver is trying to
reach him/her? How do you expect a person to not pick up calls for that 2 – 3 hours?
In 2 – 3 hours, a business deal could be closed. In the same 2 – 3 hours, the same business deal could be missed. Many businessmen do their scheduling and re-scheduling, as well as a lot of other arrangements while driving. And there is no problem in their driving.
In business dealings, it is rude to leave the phone ringing and keep the caller waiting, especially when there are urgent matters. Do the “authorities” want to teach Malaysians to be rude?
Even if you don’t have your handsfree on while driving, the normal reaction when your phone rings is to pick it up, and tell the caller that you will call back as you are driving without a handsfree. Now with your phone silenced, you will be “missing” to the caller and that is annoying.
Ever feel the panic when you can’t reach your children at a time when something is wrong? When you hear news that the area he/she is working at is having some trouble, and yet you cannot reach them? Do the authorities expect them to wait until they call back? What if they forgot to call
back? We’ll have lots of parents living in anxiety soon. And if something really happened, 2 – 3 hours will be too late to save them.
The most affected groups would be the lorry drivers who have to travel long distances to deliver goods. Say, from KL to Penang. A solid 4 – 5 hours each trip. They cannot call back home to tell their family that they’ll be late. They can’t even answer calls from their worried family members if they are late. They can’t take new instructions from their bosses. And if the trip had to be rescheduled at the last minute, it will have to wait until they
reach the wrong destination before starting a new journey again.
Moreover, long distance travelling is tiring. Some will call up family members to ‘accompany’ them along the trip to ease that sleepiness.
If you look carefully on the road, you will also notice some cars either drive too slowly or the car is swaying about. And if you drive past them, you will see that they are talking on the phone. However, these are usually the ones that didn’t use handsfree. The ones with handfree usually do not have this problem.
The common Malaysian is not rich. We do not have the privilege of hiring a chauffeur to take us around our daily trips. We have to depend on our own capability to have everything done. A new instruction like this will only cause more problems than help.
Does anyone still remember the rear seat belt ruling? It was implemented, but will only be enforced at their own sweet will. So passengers are more likely to be caught off guard as they think the law has been withdrawn.
Now we can see many cars with dark tinted glasses go untouched. I think many Malaysians will start tinting their glasses really dark so you won’t be able to see if they are using their handphones while driving or not. And if the police don’t see, it’s not an offence. A True Malaysia Boleh policy indeed.
Instead of making such new ruling, why not make public transport more accessible? Why not make road conditions better? Why not monitor the JPJ on driving license tests and exams? The last time I heard, those that didn’t “book” the test still fail theirs no matter how well they drove. Why not make better traffic flows by structuring the road in a better way? I’m sure that would be a better solution to road accident issues.
