Firdaus was telling us about the accident which occurred at dawn this morning on his way to work. He worked at an oil and gas fabrication company at Pasir Gudang, so he used the same route i.e Pasir Gudang Highway. That highway is known to be a very dangerous one because it is a main route for all the trailers and lorries to the Port Of Pasir Gudang. Since he worked there, he has witnessed road accidents which claimed the life of 20 people separately.
According to Fir, the accident this morning involved a motorcyclist and a vegetable lorry. The authorities were not there yet and he could see the body of the unfortunate man covered with newspapers while his motorcycle was badly crushed.
That reminded me of my own horrifying experience last week as I was driving back to JB from KL after taking my stuffs in KL.
I was driving alone, and it was nearly 1.00 a.m. in the morning of May 31, 2006. The location was at the KL-JB highway, southbound, and I just passed Seremban, heading towards Melaka. Frankly, Alhamdulillah, so far I have no problems whatsoever driving alone, and at night, even at 1.00 a.m. Alhamdulillah I jarang sekali rasa mengantuk bila drive long-distance. But really, this does not mean I can bersenang-senang hati driving.
That night there were mostly lorries and express buses.. and their driving was what I classify as Recklessly Life-Threatening.
As I was driving at this one corner at 80-100 kmph (which is quite slow, actually given that this is a highway), secara tiba-tiba, there was one long trailer tiba-tiba drive masuk ke jalan daripada tepi jalan. Probably the driver was resting, and was about to resume driving. Tau sajalah, trailer... bila baru masuk ke jalan raya.. really, really slow, macam semut sakit kaki! And I really had to brake like mad... even though my speed was really that slow (80-100kmph) and managed to stop barely 2-3 inches from that damn trailer!!!!!!!!! That was not all, my friend, that was not all. From my rearview mirror, I saw the front lights of a bus, semakin lama semakin besar heading straightly towards my car... which only meant the bus was REALLY laju!!!!! So I did the only thing I could think of, I pulled my car to the left side of the road (emergency lane), and in short seconds the bus arrived exactly at the spot where my car was a few seconds ago...but it was still moving and out of a sudden the bus driver had to pull the bus to the right lane of the road.. and , LUCKILY THERE WAS NO OTHER VEHICLE COMING FROM BEHIND!!!!!!!
I was totally dumbstruck and shocked for the next few seconds. When I recovered, I drove behind the truck for the next few minutes and guess what??? I tekan my hon panjang-panjang dan berkali-kali. I did not cry whatsoever, did not feel upset in the least. All I was feeling was anger, extreme annoyance and hatred. So mad was I that I had forgotten to make the approrpriate thing, that is, to dial the number shown at the back of any commercial transport should they drive recklessly. And when I overtook the trailer, I deliberately drove slowly when I passed the driver. I glared at him but that moron never looked at me and pretended that nothing happened. Only God knows how much cursing I have generously thrown to the driver in my heart!!!!
Yes, so you have to drive at night, and you do have mouths to feed at home. But who gives you the licence to risk the life of others and to drive RECKLESSLY and endangering people in the course of "mencari rezeki"????? What, you think other people do not have family???????? How could you feed your children, when the money is obtained by having people killed tragically by your own recklessness?
I swear, if I were killed that night (Na'uuzubillahiminzaaliq), jika diizinkan Allah, my own spirit or hantu whatsoever will go and find that driver and I will find him and throw him and his truck in the deepest of the jurang at the highway in between Pagoh and Yong Peng! Please do not say I am cruel because Dear God, his recklessness took my life!
And I was even madder tonight when Fir told me that he had encountered a pretty similar experience a few years back at Pedas-Linggi, on that JB-KL Highway, northbound, on his way to Shah Alam. A huge lorry was trying to move into the right lane but when Fir flashed the headlight, the driver immediately pulled the lorry back into the left lane.. So Fir went ahead and overtook the lorry.. just as he was about to pass the lorry, the lorry driver drove into the right lane when Fir's car was exactly next to the lorry. On impulse, he immediately drove his car to his right side.. guess what? The car went straight into the pokok-pokok bunga perhiasan which served the purpose of a divider of the highway. I do not want to imagine what would happen if it was not pokok-pokok bunga and was actually a concrete divider... GOD FORBID! Habis semua pokok bunga patah riuk, because he was actually driving my father's Volvo, the one that is really fast and panjang lebar, so it really swept off all the pokok-pokok... itu nasib baik tak terbabas ke the other side of the highway where cars were coming from the opposite direction!!!
At first he was panicked, as he put it.."tangan menggigil, nak masuk gear pun tak boleh"... When he recovered, he quickly chased the lorry. Bila dah jumpa lorry tu, sengaja he drove next to the lorry and shouted ""Words Of Appreciation"" to the driver. Either the driver was drunk or sleepy, but one thing for sure - he was reckless and careless. Yeah, I guess it was not very nice for us to do that to the drivers, but hey, bila nyawa dah terancam, agak susah untuk bersabar, lebih-lebih lagi akibat perbuatan yang cuai, lalai dan tak langsung bertimbangrasa. I guess we, the real descendants of Laksamana Bentan memang tak boleh diusik agaknya. We are by nature ordinary people who live ordinary life. We believe in living fairly, honestly and in harmony. It is not in our nature to cause any harm to others. But please do not touch our family, friends or relatives for no apparent reason. We could 'melenting' like mad.
Note :
1. I thank Allah endlessly for saving me on that horrifying night, and for keeping me calm and not panicking, hence I was able to think quickly and sensibly.
2. Lessons learned : BE ALERT ALL THE TIME WHEN DRIVING, DAY OR NIGHT.
: The rearview and side mirrors are invented for a very important purpose.
: BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN DRIVING UP OR DOWN A STEEP HILL.
You can never predict what's waiting for you!
: When driving at night, do not switch on the radio loudly, because you will
not be able to stay fully alert this way.
: Do not take things for granted and do not think other drivers are as careful
and mindful as you are.
: TRY TO BE IN CONTROL ALL THE TIME BECAUSE THIS WILL ENABLE
YOU TO THINK RATIONALLY AND HENCE, MAKE SOUND JUDGEMENT
AND DECISIONS.
3. I really have high regards for lorry drivers who made safety their number one priority. These kind of drivers made full use of the R & R place - they took quick showers to refresh themselves, took a nap or even sleep when they know that they are tired and are not able to be alert, or even take the trouble to stop and get a cup of strong coffee to remain alert. These people are the real human beings, who are not selfish, who really use their brain. They are well-informed, and bertimbangrasa and berperikemanusiaan. Semoga Allah memberkati rezeki yang mereka perolehi dan memurahkan rezeki mereka.
4. A lot of things could happen to me that night:
A - I did not see the trailer that appeared out of no where.
B - I did not manage to brake my car.
C - I did not see the express bus coming behind me.
D - I panicked and did not know what to do.
E - I did not manage to pull my car to the emergency lane.
F - The bus did not manage to brake on time.
G - The bus did not manage to divert itself to the right lane.
H - There was a vehicle coming from behind the minute the bus turned into the right lane.
I - There was a car at the emergency lane the moment I had to pull into it.
Ya Allah, kecutnya perut mengenangkan the impact. Imagine the explosion... kalaupun it's between the bus and the trailer, pastinya I terpaksa menyaksikannya, mau tak mau. Or... kalau tak sempat masuk ke Emergency Lane.. mau jadi sandwich.. Na'uuzubillah....
5. To all my friends, please do remember to recite this before you begin your journey.
Ayatul Kursi,
Du'a Menaiki Kenderaan Darat:
Maha Suci Allah yang memudahkan ini (perjalanan @ kenderaan) bagi kami (1) Dan
tiadalah kuasa kami mempergunakannya tanpa kurnia dari Engaku (2) Sesungguhnya kami
akan kembali kepada Tuhan Kami (3).
then,
BismillahitawakkaltualAllahuwalahaulawalaquwataillabillahil'aliyilazim.
6. Semoga kita semua dipelihara Allah dalam segala keadaan. Semoga selamat sentiasa dan dilindungi daripada kecuaian diri sendiri dan insan lain. Amin.
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