What drives me nuts...

Taken from my blog at Friendster blog.

Statistic showed that flying is the safest way to travel but since it is expensive many people prefer driving despite there are many car accidents every single day. Plus, cars are affordable. Car manufacturer and the government have been trying to make driving is safe and yet death is unavoidable. Flying in other hand, once a plane crashed, several hundred people died. Well, that’s because there are several hundred people in it. Cars in max are 11 (Hyundai Grand Starex).
So if driving is dangerous. What can we do to make it safe? What’s our part in road safety campaign? Malaysians? Campaign? Nobody is interested. For sure.
So is up to the government again. Proton and Perodua? They are trying I guess. So there’s 1 institution that still doesn’t have any standard yet. Driving school. If driving school is as strict as flying school. I think road accidents can be if not avoided (which is impossible) reduced. Yes, flying cadets will get whacked if they messed up just by a little. What about driving ‘cadets’? Nothing. Besides, I don’t think driving lessons set up by JPJ is not enough. It’s just simply a syllabus of how to turn, when to give a signal etc. They don’t teach you on how to handle emergencies. Such as, what should you do when the tire exploded while driving at 100km/h or suddenly your car aquaplane? Stuff like that.
Cars the driving school use. A Kancil. Cost is the main factor. But still, this 1 thing driving should adopt from flying. Rating. You can’t learn how to drive in a Kancil and when you get your licence, you’ll end up driving a Mercedes. There’s a huge gap between size and power. What about those spoilt rich brats who always want to show off gets a Ferrari? They can die the very same day they get their licence. It’s not a problem for veteran drivers but it is for new drivers. Although they will deny it. For sure. But of course to adopt 100% from flying is not practical. Just take a few of it. For example, if you are planning to purchase (or driving) a bigger car, train yourself first. Our driving licence should be stricter to new drivers. Not to classified just by the weight of the cars, but the power and size as well. And drivers should record their driving experience. Like pilots log their flying hours.
Another problem with new drivers which get me so annoyed. They think they CAN drive once they have their licence. Let me tell you what your ‘P’ licence really means. It means you are ALLOWED to drive. The truth is, you guys CAN’T drive. Yet. It is when you have experience and you know how your car is behaving, then you CAN drive. DRIVING IS NOT EASY. I dare to say that more than half the Malaysians drivers don’t even know how to hold the steering wheel the proper way.
Situational awareness. Which we call SA, are not implement in car drivers.

This I want to add up after reading my cousin’s blog. Women drivers. No offence but I do agree with him. Not because he’s my cousin and he’s also a male driver. It’s simply because he is right and he got a point there. Women, please, focus on the road while driving. What I mean by focus is not just focusing on the tarmac. Other cars, traffic speed, cars near a junction. You are not alone on the road. There are tens of cars around you at the same time. You are not the king (or queen) of the road. Don’t talk on the phone while drinking and putting on makeup while driving. Don’t keep your eye on the radio too long especially in housing area. Don’t slam on the brake and accelerator at the very last minute. Don’t just focuses the car in front of you; focus the car ahead of it. Drive faster on the highway. Don’t tap on the brakes. You do know the brake light will light up even if you tap and that’s really disturbing. Studies showed that women have a very hard time to focus on one thing for a long time. Maybe that’s why women are not so good drivers. They got bored too quickly.

To my friends, no offense. It’s based on my 9 years (and counting) of driving experience and even my mother (who is also a woman) agreed with me.