Defensive Driving...

Defensive driving is defined as driving to save lives, time and money in spite of the conditions of where you are and the action of those around you. It is the reasonable and responsible operation of an automobile, anticipation of potential problems and actions of other drivers to lower the likelihood of accidents.

Here in Kuala Lumpur defensive driving must be practiced to the max! Lane drifting, poor merging, no use of blinkers, the cutting of four lanes to get to the off ramp and the running of red lights are more the usual than the unusual.

Now, I wish I could say that I handle driving in Malaysia with patience and calm. But, alas, that is not the case. Behind the wheel I've become a raving lunatic. If you thought I dropped a lot of "F-bombs" before - you should get in a car with me here. The lane drifters and those that try to creep up when they should've merged about a mile back are the ones that drive me ape-shit crazy. The other day I honked and screamed at a lane drifter for a good thirty seconds - even though he had no clue that I was doing so. And, even if he had seen my rage, he would've had no idea what he'd done.

And then there's this:

 

This is SOOOOOOO common here. And, in the States, I was always nice and would let at least one person in when this occurred. Now...NO FREAKING WAY! I ride the bumper of the car in front of me like it's my job! My MyVi is just mere millimetres away from rear bumper and you can be damn sure that this woman isn't letting you in. I've become so spiteful.

 

Now, there are some things that I have adopted here...mainly out of necessity. I've been known to run the occasional red light - especially the light in front of Publika as you are turning into our neighbourhood. As long as the cops aren't hanging out at the guard house picking up their bribes - I run it. (And yes, we saw two police officers come to Duta Tropika the other night and receive a nice envelope from our guards...and while I can't say for sure it was a bribe, in this land of police corruption, I'm going to wager a bet that they were being paid off for something.)

And, a few weeks back my youngest child yelled from the back seat, "Mom! You are driving like a Malaysian!" This was as I cut 3 lanes to get to the off ramp to keep up with the speeding bus that was carrying my oldest to his track meet. Not my proudest moment, but we got to the track meet - on time - and no one was hurt. (I will add, that Grayson also said his dad drives like this "all the time." You see, Blaine was known to drive like a Malaysian back in the States - we just didn't know how to describe his style of driving until we came here.)

So there you have it! If you come visit us in Malaysia I want you to be prepared...either for your own driving around town or my excessive use of the "F" word if you let me chauffeur you. Traffic is crazy, driving is always an adventure and I would totally appreciate you screaming a few obscenities if you're in the car with me!