The time of the year has come again when you pile family and bags into your car and set off for your hometown for Raya. As we well know, these balik kampung drives are not always a stroll in the park.
Although it’s a case of “perjalanan jauh tak ku rasa,” according to Sudirman’s famous tune, the reality is that long journeys can affect even the most seasoned of travellers, and you don’t want a breakdown, traffic jam or adverse weather conditions getting in your way of a long-awaited reunion with friends and relatives.
As such, we are compiling a checklist and guide for a smart and safe balik kampung motoring experience and welcome you, our lovely readers, to chime in with tips and advice on what to expect – what to check on your car, any necessary preparations, steps to take in an emergency and so on. Lots of you will definitely have past experiences or stories to share, which will be useful to other motorists and keep our country’s roads and highways as safe as possible during this festive period.
We aim to produce a guide comprehensive enough for you to refer to every year. Suffice to say, when it’s to do with safety, especially where our families are concerned, no degree of reminding or repeating is too much.
Feel free to post in the comments section – we’d definitely appreciate your contributions!
Finally, to all our loyal readers, all of us here at paultan.org sincerely wish you a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and a safe drive to wherever you’re going!
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pack enough amount of raya songs in usb…sing while driving is good to avoid sleepy…rokok and mineral water is a must!
pack songs in USB? later kene police they will fine u for the copyright of the songs…pack your wallet oso :P
Please do not hog the right lane, move over to the slower lane if you are not overtaking.
more importantly.. please do not flash the car in front while it is overtaking
DO NOT JUMP THE QUE VIA EMERGENCY LANE!
You are a REAL MORON and BODOH SOMBONG if you do that doesn’t matter how expensive or cheap your car is.
puasa la bang
don’t drink & drive
dont cornering on the white/yellow line especially during wet road condition.. your vehicle easily turn 360°.. good luck.. safety 1st!
me? buy asam masin! hehe
bluetooth headset or at least a handsfree – don’t let any of both hands off the steering wheel for more than 2 seconds.
if there’s ipad or galaxy tab or whatever tab r pad, just give them to the kids so that they could entertain themselves at the back seat.
Cars with DVD players should stock up enough cartoons for kids to watch during the journy balik kampung and also the journey balik from kampung.
Those with wifi-in car like preve should top up kredit as well, can look for alternative roads via google map/gps if the road is congested or in case tersesat due to change in road due to development.
jarakkan kenderaan anda dengan kenderaan lain.pastikan anda nampak seluruh kereta dihadapan anda, juga kenderaan dibelakang anda melalui rear view mirror.
1. Put in sport mode all the way
2. High beam or keep your right signal on to show lane hogger you are faster
3. Always wear safety belt, and ask passenger to do so
4. Avoid this two cars, myvi and vios because they are godlike
5. Stop by at roadside and buy some lemang :D
6. For Muslim, masuk waktu azan, please stop at mosque and pray first!
7. Beware of speed trap camera :P
4. Avoid this two cars, myvi and vios because they are godlike
*sarcasm detected*
maybe you want to tell that both cars are not really stable at high speed travelling, so avoid them
Not sarcasm, I really scared when driving at two lanes road when these 2 cars are around. They overtake dangerously like they never estimate the car coming from the other side. I have to brake to let them go, well not all of them but most :D
141km/h on the driving honda pic to share tips, stories and advice on balik kampung motoring this Raya!?!?
=S
Exactly what I was going to type!
Oh my, didn’t realise that one! It wasn’t any of us behind the wheel, promise! :) Here’s the disclaimer then – always obey the speed limits, folks!
I thought Malaysian highway the speed limit is 180km/h??The 110km/h signs on the highway is the minimum speed,right??
Yaa..actually no speed limit like the Autobahn in my country,110 is the minimum speed limit.
Just get your car fully functional, all required fluid, rubber, and gases must be fresh and new, and at recommended temperature & pressure.
Fuel up! Rest and have fun?:D
Install waze apps and help each other!
ATTENTION! Left lane (on three or more lanes hway ) is not for heavy vehicles only. It is meant for slower vehicle, even if you’re at 100km/h and you’re the slower or slowest among others. Make a habit to change to left lane after overtaking. Don’t lazily drive at middle lane just because you are too lazy to use your side mirror, indicator and turning the wheels. My experience during festive seasons was usually the most left lane are empty for 4-5 kilometres. And some impatient drivers will most probably overtake you using the left lane that is legally is wrong. For more obvious example, you are driving your car lazily on middle lane at 80km/h, then there is a lorry driving at 90km/h and by law the lorry should overtakes you using the right lane. BUT, the right lane is full with 110km/h++ cars, and the chance for that lorry to lawfully overtakes you is very slim. Thus the lorry driver have no choice but to overtake you using the left lane that is illegal..
Do you remember one of the TV commercial where a driver suddenly decided to turn left from middle lane to enter into an exit but didn’t realize there’s a lorry on the left lane because the driver didn’t use his side mirror and indicator. This show how lazy the driver just cruising the middle lane without giving enough attention to his surrounding. Please make a habit of using the left lane. Especially if you don’t have any clue where is your exit, to avoid sudden change of lane! Please Malaysians! I’m begging you!
If your fasting, try to minimize eating a lot of dishes if you plan to travel after break fast. Sure you’ll get sleepy if you hentam too much.
If your a male driver, don’t let your pride and ego take over you (if you have one). If your sleepy, ask your wife or one of your family members to take over the driving. If not or if your traveling alone, stop at the nearest RnR and have some rest.
To those who are going back for raya during the last days of the fasting month especially on the last day, make sure to stock up some food and water just in case you get stuck in the traffic jam.
Dont drive right after iftar/break fasting , you may fall asleep easily.
do bring with you minyak angin cap kapak, or anything that can keep you away from falling asleep/sleepy when driving
p/s : i’m not minyak angin cap kapak seller, nor paid
– Drop your ego at home, even though you driving a big/fast car the road isn’t yours.
– be courteous to other car
– borak-borak with your passengers to avoid getting sleepy.
1. Make sure vehicle is in good condition (engine, tire, brake, suspension etc)..
2. Enough fuel..
3. Never put ego ahead..
4. Take quick rest if dizzy or sleepy..
5. Stay alert…
6. Considerate…
7. Have fun at Raya holiday with love one…
Buy a car with adaptive cruise control, set it to 110km/h, move as soon as possible to the right lane, and just sit back relax all the way to your destination
Don’t forget to check your spare tyre pressure as well before driving home.
On my way back balik kampung last weekend.. i encountered several 4x4s (isuzu and toyo fortuners).. they were going around 70-80 kmph.. while in front of them is empty road ahead.. they slowly stacking line of cars behind their back. I tried to overtake one of them.. and the isuzu suddenly increase its speed. tried to overtake 2-3 times (when it’s safe) but same thing. upon careful inspection.. those are the JPJ 4×4 themselves. I’m one confused driver. What are they trying to do? Making the road ‘safe’?
turn on the fog lights
no overtaking during at the chance of 50 50
make sure the cooling system is in order. a might heavy traffic jam be anticipated.
dont forget the allen key or special socket or lock nut socect if your car with sport wheels,
dont forget the allen key or special socket or lock nut socect if your car with sport wheels, do not misplaced them
spare tire is in good condition
overtaking like hell won make you no where since a lot of stop and go and you ll find that you are not far from the pack
fill up the tank prior to the journey
bring enough food water and tissue as eating and rest room are expected to be jammed up.
1)dont drink to much b4 or while driving. I know some drink to not feel sleepy, but if u want to pee and the RnR is still far, u will lose patience and drive like crazy putting other road users in danger.
2)make sure u have pil chi kit teck aun or 3 feet ready in case u have stomach ache.
3)Dont eat to much b4 driving
4)Visit sites that offer traffic updates b4 u travel. So u know b4 hand hows the traffic.
5)TopUP touch n Go
for musafir muslims a lot of doa and prayer bagging for a safe journey so that god will bless everyone with focused mind during driving,
makes nap a must, so that it refreshes you.
for 40 series tire, holes is the enermy, so be carefull
rear brake lights should be all in order, keep a distant in a queing traffic whever its wet.
self check,
warm the car up for 10 minutes, look at underneath if any flud drips. ractify quickly if it brake fluid or transmission (auto) fluid.
make sure the engine hood is closed properly, if not it will slam yor wind screen at legal speed hence may caused accident
you might like your sport driving style but balik kampung passanger dont like it so follow the majority
For those people who are planning to use jerangau-jabor route. please be aware of potholes and cows…….:)
car racing due to anger and might leads to rage, and jeopardized some innocents.
be defensive, fasting month has lesson to be learned,,patience,
so makes journey part of a holiday occasion enjoy the drive , do not clock you journey for a record.
makes your drive more of a scenic drive relax and chat, or tell your wife that you are interested in one lady and planning to take her as a second,,,,oops
don’t bully lady driver. even though when overtaking ladies are breavest of all.
bring the food and start journey at 4 pm after having enough day sleep. target for buka puasa at designated spot, continue night journey with full energy charged with just another half the distant to go
car is one of the deadliest ,,so……MATURED
PLEASEEEEEE MALAYSIAN KEEP TO THE LEFT LANE UNLESS OVERTAKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do not HOG the MIDDLE and FAST LANE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
berhati-hati di jalan raya… ingatlah orang yang tersayang… :)
1. if your car is due for service make sure you do so before the long trip balik kampung.
2. if not, the most important thing I do is to check the tire condition because it doesn’t matter if everything tip top but the tires are in crappy condition… most likely you will not reach your destination.
3. another thing that I always do before a long trip is to make sure the windscreen is properly clean. I use rain-x and it will make a lot of difference in a torrential rain. If everything (engine, brake, tires, etc) in tip top condition but you can’t see where you’re going then what’s the point. Ever see people driving so slow in a heavy rain with their hazard light on? That’s because they can’t see where they are going… all they can see is the tail light of another car right in front of them. Trust me, rain-x (or other similar products – I tried other brand but nothing beat rain-x …and NO, rain-x don’t pay me for saying this :P ) will make your journey a lot safer when it rains. I bought a bottle and last me more than a year so it’s not costly and you can’t really put a price on safety (not when it cost like 10 bucks for a whole year).
4. I try not to drive at night because it hinder my vision. I like to see ahead where I’m going and this help in giving me ample time to react if anything goes wrong.
5. if you have small children in your car (toddlers) please don’t let them sit in front on your wife’s/husband’s laps. I understand children can be restless and it’s hard to get them sit in a child seat or wear seatbelt on a long journey. if you have to hold them in your lap, sit at the back/2nd row. It’s much safer than sitting in front. Leave the front passenger seat empty if you have to… or let your older kid sit in front with the seatbelt on.
rain-x are great
Alternatively replace wiper blades with duraedge. The silicon blade will spread a coat of silicon film on your windscreen. Works like rain-x. Furthermore the blade will last much, much longer than normal blade. Haven’t replace the blade since bought it 4 years ago!
6. for those that like to drive at night, make sure you got a torch light in the car – with working batteries of course. A blinking emergency light also help.
Hi all!
some tips that i want to share:
1) check ur tyre (pressure, alignment, balancing, tread)
2) Check/change ur engine oil, coolant, belting (to avoid major breakdown), break pad, headlamp and rear lamp.
3)make sure spare tyre in gud condition (check pressure also)
4)drive safely with full concentration on driving. no phone while driving.
5) use seat belt front and back (for your child)
6) be patient if traffic slow. no rush and think that everyone also face the same situation.
7)to avoid high fuel consumption: please plan what are you going to bring. (to reduce weight on vehicle while driving).
8) not only machine in top condition, human also need to be in top condition before start ur journey.
have a gud aidilfitri. reduce mistakes, gain happiness.
tq
While driving, follow these simple steps:
If you are not overtaking, stay on the left lane.
It doesn’t matter if you are going at 110km/h or not, the fact is, as long as you are not overtaking anyone, stick to the left lane.
Be considerate, observe your rear view mirror often. Don’t be a lane hogger and slow 10,000 other people behind of you. You don’t want to have annoyed drivers behind you cursing your grand parents grave now, do you?
Aiyah, what you guys said are all correct. But I want to add one more important point. Change Gov, get cheaper and better car with better safety features. Off course, still need to obey speed limit.
Seating position. I don’t know what the pros said about this but for long journey, I prefer straight backrest and close steering. Which also means close pedals.
Haiiyya….
Just Share, read and think la…
no need to argue la…
my ‘balik kampung’ style…
– Sleep early and get up early for sahur at McD at 5.00am
– then slowly take the empty highway and road
– stop for Subuh prayer at Masjid around 6.30am
– continue the journey in the empty road again..
– empty road, no rush, no tense, no need to speed
arrive kampung in safe and sound (InsyaAllah)
semasa di jalan persekutuan, speed 80km/h saja. follow if the cars infront of you if they run at 75km/h
but at the long straight road, floor the pedal, overtake all of them on shot. then you lead them at 80km/h. selamat jalan
Good tips from everyone! But I’ll also like to add some more…from personal experience.
Check your car battery! Especially if it’s nearly 2 years old or above…VERY IMPORTANT! Trust me, it’ll save you A LOT of grief. Imagine this scenario; you’re merrily driving along an empty stretch of asphalt during the wee hours of the morning, alone…when your battery suddenly decides to give up the ghost (incoming pun alert!) right beside a lonely abandoned cemetery… yeah…and what will almost inevitably transpire will probably look like a scene taken right out off Jangan Pandang Belakang…with REAL actors!
So just head over to any workshops to avoid the above scenario. Most shops have hand-held device to check battery & alternator levels. So get that battery checked people…!
Also, get your mobile phone FULLY CHARGED before any long balik kampung trip. Most shops today sell mobile chargers that connect to a car’s lighter socket…but for those without those chargers, or have faulty car lighter socket, just charge it up at home a few hours before the big trip…it’s probably the single most important device you can have beside you…
Well, hope these tips help. So have a safe balik kampung journey & Selamat Hari Raya! Peace.
Dont make other people driving slow behind you if you wish to drive slow at trunk road…stop at any petrol station for a while..lets other move first .
Considerate at reasonable speed ..dont go too slow..causing traffic crawl
If you have twitter. Add @plustrafik or @LLM to know the highway traffic status. Don’t enter highway if the highway is already jammed. You will make the jammed become more jammed because you add your car in the jammed highway and the jammed will make your head jammed.
1. Accidents usually happen on trunk roads. The nature of Malaysian trunk roads are they are not wide. And during peak hours, many people are impatient and may try to overtake, This is when head-on accidents happen.
2. Motorcycles will try to overtake in these trunk roads. Many fatalities happen this way.
3. The traffic police should pay more attention on trunk roads. The enforcement officers ought to deter heavy vehicles to be on these trunk roads. They slow the entire traffic. This causes the vehicles which are trapped in the jam to take risks and overtake, thereby causing accidents.
4. The police ought to monitor the trunck roads and ought not cause so much disruptions in the highways. They too often want to show a good report by issuing summons to road users for driving just slightly above the speed limit. These are useless jobs that they are doing.
5. In fact, the real fatalities are the situations on the trunk roads. Yet, they just show their faces and set speed traps on the highways.
6. You see, the passenger cars which is more than 1600cc is quite safe and steady when you drive at 120km/h. So, why cause unnecessary delay to them by issuing them a summons if they drive at 120km/h?
7. Yes, if you drive a Kancil at 120km/h, then, it is dangerous because the car was not built to do that safely. So, we must understand that one speed limit is not for all.
8. To be fair to the small capacity cars, if they are caught for speeding, then they ought to be fined less than the big capacity cars. For example, a man who drives a Ferrari and sped at 200km/h, he should be fined according to his means. He should be fined RM5,000.00 for it. But if the driver of a Myvi drove at 125km/h, then, he ought also be fined. But he ought to be fined up to RM300.00. This is because we should be seen to be fair. A person who drives a Ferrari is laughing at the fine if you fine him just RM300.00! He don’t even feel it is painful at all.
9. All drivers must sleep at least 7 hours of sleep before they go on a journey which is more than 3 hours. Anyway, all should sleep more than 7 hours if they are driving long hours.
10. Lastly, there are many Malaysians who does not know they are diabetic or suffering from sleep disorders. When they have these problems, they get tired. They don’t realise it because they don’t know they have it. So, Malaysians should go have an annual check-up. Go check if you are over 40. If you don’t know, you can fall asleep on the wheel and kill yourselves and other precious malaysians. So, the police should check for these things and just don’t think that speeding at just over 120km/h is the cause of accidents.
Wake up ENFORCEMENT officers. It is not just because we drive 120km/h, that accidents happen. Don’t simply cause so much headache to those poor people. Look at the capacity of the cars. If they are above 1.6 liters, it is too slow to drive at below 110km/h. For low cc cars lke the Kancil, they should not drive above 90km/h on the highway.
Thank you.
Vincent
Saya sokong…
err…
but, do you read a story how a Kancil accidently race with Ferrari & Evo at 25okm/h?
if you see a hot chick driving or as a passenger in the car.. it is mandatory to wink at her.. it will improve the clarity of your vision..
Dont overstock your car, the less stuff the lighter it is and less fuel consumption.
Cola, coffee, red bull, asam, low salt chips are helpful to stay awake during the long drive
If possible, share a ride. This means more people to take-over driving if another is tired, and also fewer cars off the roads.
Max fuel your car the night before leaving
Help eachother out with Waze app.. Many of us are relying on it!
Tyre pressure must be tip-top and change tyres if they are due this week.. The price of new tyres are less than the price of our and family’s lives.
If u r driving through the Trunk roads…be careful on the followings:
1. Pak Aji on kapchai going to masjid.
2. Kids who like to kick the balls into the road instead of the goalpost.
3. Chickens doing chicken run.
4. Cows doing cows runs.
5. Buffaloes doing buffaloes runs.
6. Cow dungs.
7. Buffaloes dungs.
8. Group of kids cycling aroung doing Le Tour de Kampung.
9. Mat rempits.
10. Junior Mat rempits.
11. Mat Rempits wannabees.
12. MYVI drivers who thinks they were driving the EVOS.
13. VIVA drivers who thinks they were driving the MYVIs.
14. The true MYVI drivers who drives around admittedly knows the true performance and limitations of their MYVIs.
15. The sluggish EXORAs.
16. The Makcik Makcik drivers who unfortunately do not drive as fast as they talk.
.
.
that’s all…actually banyak lagi but..
u continue writing laaa…
woo…later exora turbo smoke you baru tau :P