Road Karma

I saw a real-life traffic accident right in front of me on the way to work yesterday morning. The driver in a red car in front of me wanted to turn right into a street so gave the signal, waited for the incoming traffic to clear, and went. I was about five to ten meters behind when a motorcycle zoomed past me on the right – the wrong side of the road – and crashed into the red car in front. BANG! (Well, actually it was more like a BOK!) I only saw the rider dropped down onto the ground as I drove past; a few motorcyclists behind me didn’t stop either. It was a busy two-way street and obviously at that time everybody wanted to get to work on time.

Admittedly, I generally don’t have kind thoughts for motorcyclists; at times I wanted nothing less than to just knock and run over them on the road like rabid dogs. However yesterday, instead of saying “Padan muka – serves him right!” – I actually felt sorry for the guy, a fellow human being; so much for my closet dream of becoming a hired assassin. :P

I believe that the way a person drives – definitely not the car that he or she just happen to be driving – reflects their true character and personality. Malaysians are supposed to be polite and hospitable, but perhaps on the road riding on a motorcycle or behind the wheel of a car makes people forget that they are still interacting with other people, also riding on a motorcycle or behind the wheel of a car.

Just remember that every time you push your way into a lane without so much of a signal, jump queue, hold up traffic etc people curse at you. Sooner of later all those curses, all those sins, will come back and bite you in the ass, or crash you into a wall, or a pole, or a monsoon drain, or a ravine, or an eighteen-wheeler…

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PS: I don't mean to call motorcyclists dogs, rabid or otherwise, and I certainly do not enjoy running over dogs or any other furry or non-furry animals, except perhaps a Chihuahua, but only because I couldn't see it.