North of the border - Malaysian's driving skills

[Vaucluse]

Ok, been here for roughly a year and a half . . . thought I'd get used to the driving habits of Malaysians . . . after all, how much worse could it be than the semi-literate Thai drivers who buy their license for 500baht directly at the counter. . .

Indicators? At best they are used to ensure that the moron you'd like to pull in front of steps on the gas pedal.

Tailgating . . . any closer, even at speed, and I'd be Richard Simmons.

Turning left from the middle lane . . . wtf is wrong with you idiots from getting in line and turning from the correct lane???

Self-important dickheads who believe you have the duty to pull over and let them pass . . . during peak hour . . . when the next car is two metres away from your nose.

Throwing rubbish out the window . . . please give me your addresses so I can drop a load of shit in your driveway. Imbecilic monkeys, have you no shame in just tossing out plastic bags, tissues, cigs etc . . . You deserve a daily

Retarded dipshits who straddle the dividing line . . . unsure of which one you'd like to be in? Friggin' stay at home hen. It's surprising you decided to get out of bed.

Deciding at the last minute to go from the outside lane to an exit, either coming to a complete standstill or cutting everyone off in that last ditch effort to get off . . . Is this a genetic deficiency or are you just plain stupid?

What the frig is up with those sleeve-glove things that women wear, by the way? Afraid of getting your porcelain skin tanned so you can continue to look like a corpse?

Motorcycles? What the heck are you smoking when zipping in and out of driver's blindsides and then beeping and waving your fist when you are cut off because no-one can see you coming.
(Oh, to the last fukkwit that challenged me to get out of my car . . . I'll give you two slaps to the helmet next time instead of just the one like last week! )

Soft-shoulder drivers on the Federal Highway: I hope you die . . . alone . . . in pain.

I am so glad that I have a big four-wheel-drive as people do give way a lot quicker and are generally more friendly . . . or scared . . . but when I use my wife's car then it really hits home what a load of nasty-arsed, incompetent fools inhabit these roads.

In the end I just have to say that all these wankers that drive faster than me are . . . wankers . . . and all the morons that drive slower than me are . . . morons

Singapura Boleh! Malaysians who dream of even being level with Singapore on anything may just try the small things . . . like driving skills.

I do miss how well Singaporeans drive . . .

Rant over. Thank you for listening.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I do miss how well Singaporeans drive . . .

[Nath21]

Nice Rant good use of emoticons and early IQ test ratings.

Other than throwing rubbish, wearing gloves and riding the soft shoullders I have seen eveything you saw in Malaysia in Singapore in less than five months on a regular basis whenever I am in a cab. Actually if you count cigarettes then add rubbish back in.

Just at lunch today I started to cross a side road and two cars pulled in without indicating and I got stared at like I was the one doing something wrong. i wouldnt have corssed if I saw an indicator put on before turning. Tailgating here is very common, turning left from any lane other than left lane is so common I asked my boss if its allowed here. I believe Singaporeans think the lane markers are to go directly under the car rather than have the car drive between them. I would hate to drive here I'll stick to MRT and cabs (actually most cab drivers I have have been pretty good drivers its the guys going past that scare me). Here looks annoying and slightly dangerous to drive, Malaysisa sounds extremely dangerous, I would hate to have kids in the back of the car.

[Vaucluse]

I do miss how well Singaporeans drive . . .

Sad, isn't it . . .

Nath21 . . . I lived in Singapore for close to six years . . . and thought I'd gone to traffic and driving hell when we moved to Thailand . . . only to find that the driving God had saved hell for me here . . . aside from that it's not a bad place except for the ridiculously infantile Bhumiputra advantages.

[dazzlebabe]

Not to mention:

1) Motorcyclist who try to squeeze through the width of a straw through traffic, hitting your side mirror to face the car on the left and just riding off

2) Bike bikes bikers parked anywhere along the street, side roads, pavements, entrances to any mall etc....

3) pot holes. any sort of holes in the middle of the roads

4) any kind of warning (closing of roads etc) handwritten in Bahasa so the rest of the world don't understand till you hit a dead end. with you and 15 others at a bottle neck with no where else to go.

5) Mat rempits riding 5 abreast and gossiping ON THE HIGHWAY, taking out the middle or right lane.

[jpatokal]

Nath21 . . . I lived in Singapore for close to six years . . . and thought I'd gone to traffic and driving hell when we moved to Thailand . . . only to find that the driving God had saved hell for me here . . . aside from that it's not a bad place except for the ridiculously infantile Bhumiputra advantages.

If you think Malaysia's bad, try Indonesia, and if you think Indonesia's bad, try India

[Saint]

The further east of the White Cliff's of Dover you get, the worse the driving!

Just the other day I was trying to get out of Parkway on to Marine Parade Road but a taxi driver decided to join the taxi queue stationary in the yellow box blocking anyone getting out. I lowered my window and politely pointed out where he was stationary. All he did was gestered that he was in the taxi queue. So I picked up my camera, got out my car and started to pretend to take some pictures. He quickly got the message and drove off

[ScoobyDoes]

I do miss how well Singaporeans drive . . .

Rant over. Thank you for listening.

You know that you and i basically swapped lives, me being 6-yrs in KL instead before the move south but to be honest........ i prefer the driving skills in Malaysia even though i definately don't prefer the jams.

Yes, so what that the hard shoulder is used as another lane (so long as they don't kill me, i don't give a toss), bikes go through reds only slightly more than they do here (I had the bull-bars on the front of my Cherokee), parking is all over the place and turning from the wrong lane....... well no, that's the same here too.

Litter...... no respect for the country and the government is reflected in no respect for the countryside.






Just don't drive the highway at night

[Strong Eagle]

Not to mention:

1) Motorcyclist who try to squeeze through the width of a straw through traffic, hitting your side mirror to face the car on the left and just riding off

As a biker I filter all the time and have never so much as touched a car... and I ride a very large bike.

2) Bike bikes bikers parked anywhere along the street, side roads, pavements, entrances to any mall etc....

Bikers get screwed for parking. So many malls and buildings don't allow bikes into their garage. MC parking spaces are few and far between, and because it only costs 65 cents all day, people park and never move.

It is a $70 fine to park on the sidewalk, and if they are not in your way, why could you possibly care where they are parked?

3) pot holes. any sort of holes in the middle of the roads

.

The roads here are by far the best of anywhere in this area of Asia, and a hell of a lot better than Houston. Except for construction projects (like Circle Line), roads are very well maintained.

4) any kind of warning (closing of roads etc) handwritten in Bahasa so the rest of the world don't understand till you hit a dead end. with you and 15 others at a bottle neck with no where else to go.

Never seen it.

5) Mat rempits riding 5 abreast and gossiping ON THE HIGHWAY, taking out the middle or right lane.

OK... I give... what's a "Mat rempits"?

[carolynW]

Mat Rempit - a guy on a scooter speeding like crazy, with the scooter or bike making those zooomy noises.

They like racing at night with other fellow Mat Rempits... Malaysia govt apparently is trying to unglamourise their rempit-ness. They should try posting those accident photos with brains and guts spilling out.

I remember the govt used to do that for Road safety campaigns. Not a pretty sight.

[durain]

ah yes, saw the the mat rempit... a souped up honda cub c70 (only 70cc engine!) trying to race a proton saga GOING UPHILL!

[Strong Eagle]

ah yes, saw the the mat rempit... a souped up honda cub c70 (only 70cc engine!) trying to race a proton saga GOING UPHILL!

Now, this is truly a challenge... especially with a couple of liters of watered petrol bought from the stand at the kampong off the highway.

[Vaucluse]

Nath21 . . . I lived in Singapore for close to six years . . . and thought I'd gone to traffic and driving hell when we moved to Thailand . . . only to find that the driving God had saved hell for me here . . . aside from that it's not a bad place except for the ridiculously infantile Bhumiputra advantages.

If you think Malaysia's bad, try Indonesia, and if you think Indonesia's bad, try India

Excellent geek-boy, when I do a thread about driving in India or Indonesia your valuable input is more than welcome . . . we can swap driving stories over many countries . . .

dazzlebabe wrote:

1) Motorcyclist who try to squeeze through the width of a straw through traffic, hitting your side mirror to face the car on the left and just riding off

2) Bike bikes bikers parked anywhere along the street, side roads, pavements, entrances to any mall etc....

3) pot holes. any sort of holes in the middle of the roads

4) any kind of warning (closing of roads etc) handwritten in Bahasa so the rest of the world don't understand till you hit a dead end. with you and 15 others at a bottle neck with no where else to go.

5) Mat rempits riding 5 abreast and gossiping ON THE HIGHWAY, taking out the middle or right lane.

Ah, the mat rempit pimply wannabe-thugs blocking half the road . . . love 'em!
The parking everywhere . . .

Scoobydoes wrote:

i prefer the driving skills in Malaysia even though i definately don't prefer the jams.

I used to think highly of you but after that statement I think you should be given psychiatric help . . .

Seriously? SG drivers worse than MY? I would suggest that SGs are much better simply because laws are enforced as opposed to here in Bumi-land.

(So, which country do you prefer to live/work?)

[bigfilsing]

My all time favorite was a few years back on a trip to Sha Alam with the bike heads, we were driving on the North South Highway and narrowly avoided death in the form of a truck reversing in the slow lane because he'd missed his exit No lights, hazard or otherwise.

WHile the trailer seemed ok, the cab was basically a garden shed on wheels. the guy had no mirros or windscreen and was hanging half out the cab to see where he was going ...what a knob

[dazzlebabe]

Not to mention:

1) Motorcyclist who try to squeeze through the width of a straw through traffic, hitting your side mirror to face the car on the left and just riding off

As a biker I filter all the time and have never so much as touched a car... and I ride a very large bike.

I did not say EVERY BIKER so you don't need to justify that you don't. I have had them do it to my car several times when I was in KL

2) Bike bikes bikers parked anywhere along the street, side roads, pavements, entrances to any mall etc....

Bikers get screwed for parking. So many malls and buildings don't allow bikes into their garage. MC parking spaces are few and far between, and because it only costs 65 cents all day, people park and never move.

It is a $70 fine to park on the sidewalk, and if they are not in your way, why could you possibly care where they are parked?

Well, they are parked on the sidewalk (which is not many in KL) and block the way thus forcing me to walk on the road. Not to mention the hot exhaust pipe you have to avoid

3) pot holes. any sort of holes in the middle of the roads

.

The roads here are by far the best of anywhere in this area of Asia, and a hell of a lot better than Houston. Except for construction projects (like Circle Line), roads are very well maintained.

Once again, I am talking about KL. Not Singapore!

4) any kind of warning (closing of roads etc) handwritten in Bahasa so the rest of the world don't understand till you hit a dead end. with you and 15 others at a bottle neck with no where else to go.

Never seen it.

That's because they are in the small village roads in Malaysia. Once again, I am not complaining about Singapore. As I may highlight again, I wrote.. "Not to mention" before my post that Vaucluse started about Malaysia. NOT Singapore.

5) Mat rempits riding 5 abreast and gossiping ON THE HIGHWAY, taking out the middle or right lane.

OK... I give... what's a "Mat rempits"?

Are you talking about Malaysia? I am.....