Of Tickets and Fines

Hello Travellers!

I was watching the news on TV (First time in a very long time) and they were talking about traffic fines in Malaysia. Apparently, it is that time of the year again where fines or tickets have to be settled or else. Or else, what?
According to what was on my TV screen, only about 700,000 Malaysians have paid their fines.
Of course, there are millions of people living in this country. But if we have 700,000 reckless drivers on the road, shouldn't we start worrying? Besides, every one of these drivers probably received 3 or more tickets every year.
Can we not produce better drivers?

Worse still, many of these reckless citizens are motorcyclists. Even though I've lived in Malaysia for more than 15 years, I still don't understand the traffic lingo here.

Here's a big problem with the situation. People are obviously not going to change if nothing is being done. How many people pay up all their fines and how many actually even bother? Sadly, you could get away with paying only half of the penalty by sending in a flattering letter stating that you are sorry. How does it work here? Can it ever get worse?

I doubt that Malaysians understand the purpose of a zebra crossing. Pedestrians, never trust a zebra crossing. They're just patterns on the streets for color. Once I crossed a zebra crossing after a whole deal of looking around to see if there were no cars. Unfortunately, one shot out of nowhere, charging straight towards me. Rather than slowing down or stopping to allow me time for crossing, the driver honked at me and gave me a nasty stare. How despicable!

Double line? What's that?
I also recently witnessed a truck passing a line of cars while driving on the line in the middle of two lanes because of the lack of space and that cars were coming from the other direction too. How impatient!
Not forgetting motorcyclists who ride while admiring the scenic view around them and going at inconsistent speeds.
Or the ones that weave in and out of traffic making it difficult for car drivers to focus or drive consistently.

Well, I guess here we go again. Time to pay up once again but trust me, without stricter enforcements, we are never going to go anywhere.

Yours Truly.