“The victim had to stop his car on the emergency lane because of a tyre problem. He opened the car door but was hit by another car from behind at the lane,” recalled the 33-year-old media practitioner.
Hisyam said he was concerned to see other motorists continue to drive on emergency lanes at highways. “One day on my way to Kedah, I saw so many drivers using the emergency lane. Even a patrol car could do nothing,” he lamented. Hisyam refuses to be “helpless” about the situation.
Since March, he has been snapping photos of vehicles using emergency lanes and posting them on the Road Transport Department (JPJ) Facebook page. Based on his observations, the father of one listed three “hotspots” where emergency lanes at highways were being abused – a bottleneck before Bidor, before the Jawi toll in Penang and another before Changkat Jering.
Hisyam said he made it a point to ensure that the errant drivers knew he was snapping photographs. “I only take photos when my wife is driving and I don’t intend to be discreet about it. I want them to see that their bad behaviour is caught on camera,” he added.
Despite his efforts, the assistant news editor with a local Malay daily said he had yet to receive any query from the JPJ, except for the automated “thank you”. “I am not sure what their priority is. We can’t wait until somebody dies again for us to learn from this.”
In response, JPJ said the photo evidence of people abusing emergency lanes will be acted upon.
Its enforcement director Datuk V. Valluvan Veloo, responding to complaints that the JPJ was dragging its feet on the issue, said specific officers were tasked to handle such complaints online.
He said under the law, even motorcyclists were barred from using emergency lanes. “But we want evidence on cars and lorries as these are more dangerous,” he said.
Valluvan said the JPJ had received good response from the public after the first appeal for photo evidence was made in May. “We find the initiative to be very effective as our enforcement officers cannot be anywhere and everywhere,” he said, adding that 1,300 photographs of vehicles using emergency lanes were sent in from May 22.
Valluvan said complaints from the respective states were channelled to the JPJ headquarters which “will respond to each one”.
“We are constantly monitoring it and when we have enough evidence, we will bring the offenders to court,” he added. Valluvan, however, cautioned that only passengers were allowed to snap photos, saying drivers were barred from doing so.
Selfish drivers abusing the use of an emergency lane and blocking an ambulance .
It was reported last month that vehicles travelling on the emergency lane at the 228th kilometre of the North-South Expressway had hindered an ambulance from reaching an accident site.
After viewing a video recording of the vehicles on the emergency lane, JPJ issued 91 notices to the vehicle owners concerned who were given 14 days to appear at the JPJ office. It is learnt that it took the ambulance about an hour before it could reach the accident scene involving two motorcyclists. Both died from their injuries.
Meanwhile, police will crack down hard against the illegal use of emergency lanes during the coming balik kampung rush. Bukit Aman Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department director Comm Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the lanes were meant for emergency purposes.
“Motorists who drive on emergency lanes do not understand that they are obstructing personnel from reaching the scene as fast as possible. We will act against anyone caught using emergency lanes with the maximum RM300 fine imposed,’’ he added.
