I was a passenger in a car the other day with three of my friends. I got in the back, and very matter-of-factly, reached for the seat belt, pulled it across my chest, slid it into the buckle and sat back.
Hardly a couple of seconds had passed before I was aware of an incredulous stare burning in my direction. My back seat companion was looking at me; mouth agape, squint-eyed and an inquisitive frown on his face, as if I’d suddenly sprouted a Pinocchio nose and a third eye.
“Seriously?” he inquired, frowning harder as if to study more thoroughly this being from outer space. Instantly becoming self-aware, I hurriedly glanced about my person, wondering what I’d done that was so weird as to earn such a reaction. A mocking smile slowly formed on his lips.
“Back seat you still want to wear seat belt ah?” he bellowed condescendingly, saving me from my brief confusion, but not, perhaps, from possible death or serious injury.
It was my turn to stare at him now. You know how sometimes you have so much to say, you don’t bother saying it at all? A thousand rebuttals were loading themselves into a gun in my head, begging to be fired at him all at once, but I simply said “Yes,” made a mental note to sign my meek self up for speak-your-mind classes, and turned away to look out the window.
Next to our car was a middle-aged woman in a Proton Saga with three children, two of which were having a plastic-sword fight in the back and one standing on the front seat, her precious little head a mere several cringe-worthy inches away from the windscreen.
Happens at the other end of the scale too, as it turns out. A few days later I pulled up alongside a Porsche Cayenne at the lights, and while I couldn’t see the driver thanks to its tinted windows, I saw very clearly the heads of two children sticking out of the open sunroof, laughing merrily and enjoying the view.
Let’s go back for a moment to the early days of those stupid pully, strappy things. Some people thought a pull-and-click too much of a hassle. Some quoted freedom as a fundamental right, and as such, they didn’t want to be strapped to their seats like the condemned to the electric chair.
Some opined that in an emergency, you could exit the car more quickly if you were belt-free. Some found the wearing uncomfortable. Some even believed, goodness gracious, that the use of restraints demonstrated distrust in the driver’s competence, and could be taken as an insult!
And what happened? Today many drivers and front seat passengers get into their cars and fasten their belts, almost without even being conscious of it. Unlike the generation before them, they don’t belt up because they fear a fine, or only when there’s a policeman in sight – they belt up because they’ve always done it, and are used to it. The answer to the question at the start of the paragraph: it eventually gained acceptance and became second nature.
It’s safe to say that most of us Malaysians (in the urban areas at least) are pretty good with front seat belts. Considerably fewer, however, are as conscientious in the back, and even fewer still secure their children in child seats – let’s not even go there, or this column would never end.
You may sit and wonder what happened to the rear seat belt law, but the fact of the matter is this – law or no law, fine or no fine, we should be belting up as long as we are travelling in a vehicle. Because we value our lives.
I don’t need to rattle off seat belt-related road death statistics to frighten you, or tell you why the back isn’t any safer than the front, because you’ve heard it all before.
It’s saddening enough to see lower-income families, especially in more rural and remote parts, travelling with many children in a car unrestrained – they have not had as much exposure to the importance of vehicle occupant safety. They couldn’t afford another car, or a bigger car, or child seats – even if they recognised the need for them.
But what really grinds my gears are those of us who can well afford safety and yet take it so lightly. They could be driving cars filled to bursting with airbags, ABS, traction control, crumple zones and the latest in active electronic safety systems which some of the best European engineers have slaved for years to develop, all in the name of saving lives. And then they go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like “Back seat you still want to wear seat belt ah?”
Maybe one day, just like we did with their counterparts up front, we’ll all get used to wearing rear seat belts. It might make little difference to drivers’ attitudes or the number of accidents on the road. It might make a bigger difference to the number of people killed or seriously injured in cars every year.
But it will make all the difference in the world to the life it has saved.
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I think the most dangerous thoughts of bucking up rear seat belt is that it’s uncool.
However, not bucking up might be cool, died because you and your friend didn’t buck up is totally not cool.
boleh people just don use ISOFIX for their children safety but demand ISOFIX as standard….how irony pelik!…
1st pix: HAHAHAHA
2nd pix: *blue shirt farts*, creepy silent…
3rd pix: everyone also fart.
Kudos for the article. For once, the Rakyat need to be reminded about basic car safety other than articles about new cars.
The Ah Moi in the middle, I would most probably lose control of my car just looking at her
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wah like this also can bash ah, lu orang manyak creative lor, hahahah
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I knew her in college. She is quite hot.
Well said, Jonathan!
Be careful man. Make sure ur car equip with ESC, lose control due to pretty ah moi will ended up badly.
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that normal for boleh people even driver don wear seat belt….i wear seat belt front or back…i simply dont wanna endup outside the car when accident or worst under a lorry!
Very true… Bulk up n you’ll see the different.
Me used to lazy to bulk-up n 1 time got saman… Then lesson learnt everytime I entered d car wil put on the seat belt.
5 months ago – experienced my gen2 car upside down near cheras h/way. Only me in d car. And im glad n lucky coz I bulk-up d seat belt. The belt really did the job well. Kept me still on the seat…or maybe the seat on me that time.
So drivers n passengers please put on ur seat belts. IMPORTANT!
How much protein shake did you feed your seat belt to bulk it up?
lol did u mean buckle up
Well written article. Say what you want, but Malaysian’s awareness towards road safety is appalling. Another thing, parents, CAN YOU STOP PUTTING YOUR KIDS ON YOUR LAP? I mean, if you were to come to a hard stop, you would crush the kid. Outrageous, our mentality. And some more want to be a first world country? not with that mentality!
We need to change. Now. Fast.
Well, first the passenger airbag will kill them (if you sit in front). If you sit in the rear, they will turn into a cruise missile, at best the kid will fly through the window and only the kid dies, at worst the kid will also kill whoever is sitting in front of it.
For children not old enough to use seatbelts, that’s what ISOFIX-compliant child chairs are for. those prevent them from becoming cruise missiles. Sure, if you install the child chair in the front, the airbag would kill them. that’s why the newer cars nowadays have the option to turn off the front passenger airbag. do remember to turn it off or turn it back on again.
the commenter you replied to was right. safety awareness among malaysians really is low.
This is the mentality to some of us. Buckling up seatbelts ONLY when they saw police officer or roadblocks ahead.
What’s worse is that they unbuckle their seatbelt right after their car moved away from the police or roadblock. I was like to give ULTIMATE FACEPALM. Haishhh.
The worst thing is some people DID buy a device that looks like a small card where you can put it into the seatbelt buckle place so those drivers could avoid annoying beeping sound without really buckling up their seatbelts. This is sad.
LOL…I have one of those.
Yep the beeping is annoying….especially if you are using your other 5 point harness instead.
NOT FUNNY!
Laugh while you (still) can.
Why so serious? Death does not spell funny.
It’s natural selection. People with that level of stupidity should not breed too much, so nature finds a way to balance out their breeding rate.
LOL!! Darwinist
Well said!
I usually check if all my passengers buckle up, if they don’t, I’ll ask them to. If they refuse I’ll stop at the roadside and ask them to walk. That includes the rear passengers. Now if they want to kill themselves, go ahead, but I do not want to be killed by the passenger sitting behind me. And yes, that is what is going to happen in an accident, when they don’t wear a seatbelt.
Btw., airbags are deadly when you aren’t wearing seatbelts, which is why they are most likely deactivated when you don’t wear your seatbelt.
true, true, most people think if their cars have airbags, they will survive for sure in a big accident.
But the airbag is supplementary; SRS stands for Supplementary Restraint System. If the driver/passenger is not wearing the seatbelt, the airbag will more than likely kill them in an accident because of the combined effects of the high-G forces and the explosive chemical reaction in the airbag.
Agreed! Safety belts and Airbags goes hand in hand. These two should be treated as our last line of defence, in case all else fails. It is indeed sad to see parents themselves buckled up but allowed their children to stand or sit on their lap while driving. Parents with helmet but not their children on a bike. As for me, when I drives. ‘No buckle up (front and back seats), then no go!’. It does matter who or what you are! Excellent article.
*Internet fistbump* :D
You are a good parent sir/ma’am, God bless you.
In my family, it’s the other way round. I’m the one who ends up forcing my parents and siblings to wear their seat belts. xD
is that a Santa Fe???
This is bolehland what, all sorts of laws and rulings come out but no enforcement. Just look at the number of vehicles with heavily tinted windows, flashing blue lights, potong springs, the list goes on and on, and you expect them to care about rear seat belts snd child sests ah? Pi dah this is still a third world country regardless what the idiots in the gomen want you to believe
Even simple things like GT wings and loud exhaust systems, that are deemed illegal under JPJ guidelines and are so visible, are not acted upon. I agree with you that they won’t act on something that is not right that is INSIDE the car when things that are readily visible outside the car are ignored and not enforced against
Hahaha our PDRM is more enthusiastic about catching dog owners, people who exercise free speech, people who make weird flags and people who speed 3 or 4kmh above the AES speed limit than actually catching those thieves and murderers.
Macam mana mau jadi negaru maju like dis ? -__-
law say seatbelt is for must wear, but people is too ego. must change the people thinking first
I’m guilty for that. funny thing me and my wife just talked about this not more than few hours ago. as typical malaysian, we blamed that on lack of enforcement, hehe. Nevertheless, we will try to improve ourselves. thanks for reminding.
there are few other items that fall into this category (hangat tahi ayam) that i can think of.
1) SIRIM approved motorcycle helmets. Recently non-approved helmets has been flooding our market. mostly from indonesia. usually given as free gift for new bike purchase
2) Buses and lorry speed limit. There are no limit for them. First blackbox, then undercover RTD officers, who knows what next….
3) Open burning/excessive vehicle emission. I’m sorry but I think Jabatan Alam Sekitar is a non-existent. Seriously i dont see them doing their part on this. Anyone who knows someone who works for this ministry, please ask them what they are doing at work.
Please add on. We shall have a very long list…
Disagree with jabatan alam sekitar duty.. just becoz u didnt see, doesnt mean they didn’t do thier work… p/s: i work in environmental line
apologize for my early judgement.good to know they are doing their job.but they still need to do something about those buses and lorries.even some school bus also emitting black cloud.pity those kids
100% agree.
I tell people who come in my car to buckle up or get out.
Ask for 6 airbags, ESC, ABS and what not. But puts a fake seatbelt clip to stop the seatbelt reminder from beeping so you can drive without the ‘hassle’ of the seatbelt.
Typical Malaysian.
Thank you for bringing up safety issues on this blog at least creating awareness even if not compliance by the readers. I’d like to see a more consistent set of articles on safety on the blog too, maybe have a safety section with regular blogs every month or so. Lots to talk about on safety eg. how to (or not to) drive in wet/low traction conditions, technology eg. motorcycle airbags, standards for example why you shouldn’t turn on your hazard lights in heavy rain.
Can ah Jonathan/Paul? :D
Wearing seatbelt doesn’t apply to policemen in patrol cars and government personnel in official cars it seems. Here in Putrajaya, I’ve never seen them wearing seatbelt… not even the driver, what more the passengers.
The reason police dont wear seatbealt is because if they want to get out of car to catch a suspect, the seatbelt will delay them.
1. When you can run through red light?
2. When you can overtake during double line?
3. When you can not to wear seatbelt?
1. When there’s police officer guiding the traffic.
2. When you did not cross the double line (wide road).
3. When you’re in emergency vehicle (police, ambulance, firetruck.
You want 2-3 sec delay or forever “delayed” (death from accident)??
As personal experience, I have had gone though a bad crash and I can say, the seat belt have saved me from serious injury if not death.
My kids are always buckled in their child seats from the day they left the hospital and it is second nature for the older one now to belt up on her own without instructed to.
Unfortunately, our current Citra lacks LATCH/ISOFIX to properly mount the child seats.
What is more appalling is that New Family MPVs still lack them, example being the Exora. Proton’s product planners much also have the same mentality of lax safety consciousness to have omitted this simple, cheap yet effective safety component.
It is sad to still see kids running around the back, or even the front inches away from the front airbag.
Proton thinking like our ministers mah! Tak suka keluar! Gi beli perodua, toyota, honda!
Hah, no wonder they can’t even become jaguh kampung hahahahaha!
very conservative thinking, do you still ive in cave? proton is increasing the safety specs, don’t tell me you don’t know suprima has 6 airbags. well, waiting for preve and exora to be upgraded too.
Needless to say, don’t put the manufacturers to blame if no ISOFIX is available, particularly here in Malaysia. No market demand, no legislation, no love.
ISOFIX is one of the method of installing child seats into a car. What’s more important, regardless of ISOFIX or not is to have a well designed child seat (one designed to the correct child seat protocol/regulation) and install them as per the manufacturer recommendation (since it was tested and approved that way).
In any case, seatbelts in all Malaysian vehicles are made to confirm with the necessary ECE regulation, hence a good non-ISOFIX child seat would suffice as well.
One more thing, thanks to all for the good response towards better vehicle safety.
I very much agree with some comments posted here. I too would like to chip in my two cents as well. I personally feel extremely appalled and disgusted by the general lack of respect towards one another exhibited by road users in Malaysia. For instance, it is not very uncommon to see people cutting in line at traffic light and during traffic congestion. I hope people will realize that this act of selfishness, though may benefit them, will only aggravate the situation.
And these same idiots also think that everything wrong in this country will go right once they vote in a different government, not realizing that the country is shitty because of uncivilized fools like them. Their self-centeredness and selfishness have no limits, as is their stupidity.
I totally 100% agree with you.
Many of my acquaintances shout for change, but they fail to see that change must first come from the individual.
I, too, like many of the commenters here, refuse to drive if my rear passengers don’t buckle up. I tell them it’s fine if you die, but I don’t.
Hi all, I completely agree with you guys here.. thank god me & my wife think it’s important to put on seatbelts (including the back seat), and our little daughter is always on child seat too.
And if you could afford it, please get a car with airbag.. I was saved by it when I dozed off in PLUS highway early this year.. the seatbelts and the airbags, they work hand in hand…. to SAVE you that is.
safety first please!!!
Safety First Please!!
Don’t take it so hard.
Its the culling of the stupid.
Some people shouldn’t live to propagate their genes.
Before i am flammed here, relax guys. A little acerbic humour doesn’t kill :-P
That’s not humor, that’s the truth. And those who do not believe in it belongs in the camp that will be culled someday.
Thanks. A timely reminder to buckle up when sitting at the rear seats. Though I always buckle up when I am sitting at the back, I have failed miserably as long as infant safety precaution is concerned. I am particularly guilty of letting my grandson to sit on her grandma’s lap whenever we go for a ride. This practice must stop immediately. Thanks again.
Be safe than be sorry? More than that, this is being responsible to yourself and all around us. Well said Jonathan!
came here for the girls.
Thats why boleh people are hard to please,they want their car fitted with gadgets,safety equipments but hardly take advantage of it.Some cuckoo drivers also gamble with death and injury for not using seat belt also
Actually … it is the reinforcement. The police or jpj went stop a vehicle they did not check on this unless the road block meant for rear seat belt checking.
I live in UK for 5 years, initially when arrived I don’t care about rear seat belt and child seat but once know how in trouble you are when get caught, we always buckle up and use child seat for kid. And now after 7 years left UK my family still do the same … use seat belt when ever in car for all seats even third row (I got 4 kids). And now not for police but for safety.
no seat belt or abs esp vsa vsc esc cbc acc ahr bas blis ebd tc srs n what not is going to save us when driving a full load of hot chicks.
I had an accident two weeks back when a four wheel drive on the right lane lost control while taking tight corner and hit my car on the left lane. my car was pushed to the roadside, into a drain and stopped at the edge of a hill with my car slanting 45 degree. Thank God all my family wore their seat belt front and rear and we escape with only minor bruise. I can say that the injury could be more serious or fatal particularly for my children at the back if they didn’t wear their seat belts.
I often noticed in car mags of modified cars that the idiots who heavily modify their cars often lack intelligence. Quite often, they will put in a powerful engine and do all sorts of mods.. but put in racing bucket seats that support 4-point harnesses although they’re using just the standard seat belts, and swap out the stock steering wheel for a Momo-type flat-dish unit without airbag.
No wonder so many of these racer-wannabes die horrible deaths whenever they crash their cars. Serves them right.
I always tell my passengers that my car will not move unless they buckle up.
I went to Korea last week and to my surprise wearing seat belt is totally optional for rear seat passengers. Some cabs even have the receiving ends of the seat belt buckle removed!
Many automakers are lobbying China as well, to make child seats mandatory. In spite of their ulterior motives, I think it should first start with educating the public.
the girl in blue is so cutee!!!!
I click this post to see blue shirt lady only :) i will definitely help her to fasten seat belt
all the adik manisssssssss is the only reason i click this article..
I was asked the same question when I used the seat belt at the back when going out for lunch. I really didn’t know what to say……….
After 18 years of education our people don’t even value their own lives, that doesn’t mean we have to be ‘stupid’ like them, spread the good influences………..
Better be a Live-Hero then to be a Dead-Hero. There are mistakes whereby we done have 2nd chance to laern from.
an insurance company did a great commercial of this sometime ago. a bloody good one at that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Qhmdk4VNs?w=200
From what I know the airbags will never deploy if the seat belts are not used, is that correct??!!!
IINM, that only applies for cars with driver and passenger (front and rear) seat belt reminders or other relevant sensors. Some older cars will deploy the airbags with or without seat belt usage.
Sometimes the airbag won’t deploy at all if the accident is not severe.
Best to pakai seat belt as much as possible, we have nothing to lose. :]
I’m the only one in my family that wear seat belt on the rear.
Respect to you man :)
Friends don’t let friends ride without seatbelts.
Also, as a driver, I insist on rear passengers wearing their seatbelts. I will refuse to move the car if they do not.
It took me about a year to FORCE my parents to put on their seat belts in the rear. And now they do it about 80% of the time without me prompting them.
Drivers, please do your part as well.
agreed, msian did not bother wt safety…hence no wonder cars manufacturer are still offer only 2 front airbags….
I always cringe everytime i saw those child sitting/standing at the front seat….just imagine what will happen in a colison, either will go flying out of the smash windscreen or get punched by the front air bag…ouch!
Pity how (some) Malaysians tend to hate wearing seatbelt… Heck my autistic 12yo lil bro knows to buckle up each time we travel, without orders from me and my parents… “Normal” person should be better than him…
As far as I know, seat belt was design for human protection. But even in the 21st century still have human dont even use it n do they know how to use it. What im saying is, are they living backwards? For instance, why manufacture this days equip sensor for cars if they did not buckle up. Isn’t that annoying if driver did not buckle up n sensor is reacting by producing sounds. I think that person is probably enjoying the sounds rather than radio. So pls wear seat belt while driving. Safety prevent bad injuries n life.
Great article Johnathan. Very timely too.
I cringe everytime i see cars with kids unbuckled, on an adult’s lap in the front seat, sticking their head out windows / sunroofs etc etc. I’ve seen kids sticking their head out the sunroof along the NKVE, with the car going at hway speed. Crazy!
I’ve got friends who do not put their kids/babies in car seat just because “they don’t want to / they cry”. C’mon la, who is the adult here? Of course babies will sometimes cry la, but after a while they will get used to it. Same with kids – they adapt fast. (Personal experience – All my kids have been trained since birth to be in a car seat and to buckle up).
Bottomline is, if adults don’t buckle up, its their stupidity, but if kids don’t buckle up, its their PARENTS’ stupidity….
Stay safe everyone.
“I’ve seen kids sticking their head out the sunroof along the NKVE, with the car going at hway speed. Crazy!”…
i guess this redefines “break neck” speed if an accident is involved.
another important point most people dont realise is.. how common issit to see young children in the front seat.. either unbuckled, or on the laps of adults (adult has seatbelt on). airbags deploying from the front can be potentially lethal to young children. and if you really must carry your child in front in a childseat, you have to ensure your car has the option of turning off the front passenger airbag. if not.. your kid must go in the back.
IMHO, kids should never be allowed to sit in front until they are tall enough to use the seatbelt without a booster.
Those sitting on their parent’s lap in the front seat are still exposed to serious injuries even with the air bags off. They become potential projectiles or rag doll. There’s a youtube video out there about a grown heavy man being toss around in a car (and eventually went out the rear window) in an accident as he was not strapped down. Imagine a child. And forget about holding the child down… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039850/Seat-belt-warning-baby-mothers-lap-catapulted-150ft-car-windscreen-80mph.html
Look at the rear window.
The car’s not on the road.
Not moving.
Why buckle up?
Ah yes, the idiots on the road who dun care about seatbelts and the parents who are idiots in not realising the safety of their children. I’ve seen results of accidents in Langkawi 20 years ago when parents in front seats do not belt up or letting their children run loose at the back. Lack of education, maybe its a small kampung, but more of ignorance and stupidity. Fast forward to now and there are still a lot of idiots who do not buy child seats or even restrain their children at the back..this is really stupid or testing fate. With a lot of bad drivers on the road these days, emergency stops are more common now and more preventive measures must be taken.
Are parents soooo ignorant and stupid or are they ok to make some babies?
My wife and I survived when our car flip during accident. Only small bruise because I hit window glass with my fist to escape. Both 4 wheel on top. This because we wear seat belt
Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post. Many thanks for providing this info.
anybody here know where can i install the rear seat belt? just recently bought an old corolla year 2000 without rear seat belt. which accessory shops that do installation? appreciate if you have any info.
U guys need to watch the UK government TV commercial called “Julie’s Killer” from 1998 on YouTube. Yes that is 17 years ago!!! Fact is rear passenger not wearing a seatbelt becomes a missile weighing several tons equivalent. The front seat occupants are wearing seatbelts which lock in an accident to prevent them from flying through the windscreen. The rear passenger slams into the back of the front seat, CRUSHING THE FRONT OCCUPANT TO DEATH. This may be Bolehland tapi u tak boleh kalau u mati sudahlah…. I’m a British expat living in Malaysia & in UK we ALL wear rear seatbelts & have done for the past 25-30 years