IT takes a lot of patience driving in Kuching. And that’s not an overstatement.
For instance, you drive up to a traffic light during rush hours.
In front of you is a long queue of cars. The light turns green but some of the drivers in front seem to be in two minds – to snooze on or drive on.
They sure are taking their own sweet time making up their minds. And their preternatural indecision is baffling.
By the time they realise “green” means go, the lights will most probably be halfway to turning red and you, being stuck near the rear, will most probably have to spend the next eternity seeing red while kicking your heels before the green light comes on again. Hard life!
Usually, the situation is compounded by the fact that the time it takes for the traffic lights to change on the four sides of the road junction is pretty uneven.
Apparently, the systems at some of the traffic lights are not configured to prevent this. It seems traffic is given more time to move on one side of the junction than either of the three other sides.
Small wonder tempers can flare at traffic lights during peak hours, especially on hot days such as now when we are in the throes of a sizzling El Nino onslaught.
There are also drivers who habitually run the traffic lights. And we copy them at our own peril. Commonsense and a little patience goes a long way to getting us home in one unbroken piece.
Still on traffic lights – a common trait among Kuching drivers is that they tend to speed up when the lights turn red and slow down when the lights turn green – opposite of what the rule says – red for stop and green for go.
While some of us may push the envelope when the odds get a bit long, surely something as needless as running the traffic lights on a congested road that will knock us off the turnip truck is not worth risking life and limb over.
On a brighter note, traffic to and from Jalan Song and the localities within the vincinty of Kuching International Airport has become better regulated with the opening of the new bypass. But there is a downside. While one end of the route has improved, the other end – Jalan Sipang Tiga – has become a nightmare gridlock on most days.
There is some sort traffic jam going on in the area throughout day, and the situation is particularly bad during peak periods – morning during the rush to work, afternoon during lunch break and evening when people return home from work or fetch their children after school. It can be a jungle out there!
Some lorry and bus drivers apparently think the size of their vehicles entitles them to lord over other road users. They turn without signalling and overtake virtually at will. With these roadhogs around, it pays to drive defensive so that we do not come to any grief.
Driving in heavy rain can be a real test of patience. The situation gets worse if you are caught in a flash flood.
Some rash drivers will plough through the puddles on the road, splashing your windscreen not only with murky water but also debris like sand or even pebbles!
There are some motorcyclists who zip between and around vehicles as though it’s their right to perform dare-devil stunts on the road. It’s certainly no loss giving these fake ‘Evel Knievels’ the widest possible berth and let the long arms of law catch up with them.
Call it an occupational hazard of driving in a city overwhelmed by cars and where roads are getting too small cope with a vehicular population that has gone madly out of control.
But even so, unnecessary loss of lives could be prevented if we observed a fundamental rule in the High Code – Safety First.
Patience can be cultivated in various ways, including calmly tolerating a delay or confusion, being willing to wait for things you want, set goals and stick with them until they are finished, do something now that will help you in future, accept things you cannot change with humour and grace and being tolerant when mistakes are made.
For as the great thinkers say, patience will achieve more than recklessness. And this is especially true of driving on roads, plagued by chronic congestion, and an acute lack of courtesies on the part of an inconsiderate minority at the expense of the majority – not unlike ours.