Police has released a statement on the Proton Wira driving against traffic on Federal Highway accident, which happened on Monday morning (July 4). The cops are seeking witnesses of the crash, which happened around 1.45 am at KM 32.8 of the highway, Klang-bound. They received a report at 2.08 am. The images above are from PDRM.
According to early investigations by Petaling Jaya police, the head-on collision between the Wira and a Honda City was due to the Proton driving against the traffic flow. The driver of the Wira, a 72-year old Malaysian man, died at the scene. The case is being investigated under Section 41 of the Road Transport Act 1987.
PJ district police chief Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid says that police is trying to determine the cause of death of the Wira driver and is appealing for witnesses. Those at the scene can go to a police station or directly contact the investigating officer, inspector Navalan A/L Ravindran at 014-2536820, to assist investigations.
Bad car crash on Federal Highway at 2AM! We didn’t slow down because we’ve never seen accidents before but because there are broken glasses on the road!!
Not sure if there’s any casualty but praying for everyone involved. ???????? pic.twitter.com/cvfc3lvQ20
— Ceddy (@CeddyOrNot) July 3, 2022
The official statement’s outline of what happened matches what was reported by passers-by yesterday, with a video by Twitter user Ceddy showing a damaged Proton Wira on the right lane of the highway and a wrecked Honda City on the left lane, the latter with significant damage on its front right side.
The post did not mention where exactly the crash happened, but the video showed Menara Celcom in the background, and that’s just before one passes Hilton PJ on the Federal Highway, Shah Alam-bound.
Ceddy later replied the thread to say that others DMed him to inform that the Wira was speeding and driving against traffic, which makes the Honda City an innocent victim. Twitter users Amrfz. and toxic apek say they passed the crazy Wira earlier, with the latter adding that he nearly crashed into the Proton but was “saved by a Myvi from the opposite direction who kept flashing his lights”.
The same Twitter user added that the Wira driver died on the scene but the City driver survived and was rushed to hospital. The impact must have been quite big for the two cars to land so far apart, and we hope that he/she survives with minimal injuries.
The Wira driver’s profile might not match what many have imagined, an elderly man instead of a crazy younger man driving under the influence. That doesn’t rule out DUI by the deceased, but accidents involving disoriented old people aren’t uncommon, and some elderly folk suffer from dementia, which leads them to do inexplicable things.
In fact, late last year, the topic of senior citizens posing a danger on the roads surfaced after a couple of lawan arus incidents. Former Bukit Aman traffic investigation and enforcement department (JSPT) director Datuk Azisman Alias even suggested that driving licenses only be issued to seniors who are declared fit to drive by doctors.
“We see cases of driving against the flow of traffic being a trend, and there are cases involving the elderly aged 60 and 70 years and above. This can indirectly cause accidents on the road. Some senior citizens aged 70 and above are forgetful and senile, and most cases of driving against the traffic flow involving this group is because of wrongfully entering a road. There was a case previously where an elderly driver entered a motorcycle lane,” the then-JSPT chief said.
Naturally, the suggestion created an uproar and the most famous “old driver” in Malaysia – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – came out to defend senior citizen drivers, saying that “driving from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur, no problem”. Of course, the “fit to drive” suggestion was duly nipped in the bud by transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.
Our car-loving former PM is widely acknowledged to be very fit and mentally sharp for someone who is just shy of the century mark, he drives himself and will probably never turn down a test drive, but is Tun M an exception or the norm? Those who have elderly parents who are still driving – what are your views on this? Are you woried?
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elderly people should be made to go for yearly driving assessment to see if they are fit to drive or not. those who failed will not be allowed to drive. at the same time, they are highly encouraged to take e-hailing and they should be given a discount for the ride to make it more affordable to them.
Where r those forumers that said old people are less likely to cause such unnecessary accidents?
Proton cars not safe , last time at Nkve..
agreed, especially those mitsu-derived protons
But more Perodua cars are going wrong way. So should ban Perodua from the roads.
Yup, in fact there are a lot of angry old dude driving insanely otr and when accident occur they switch to innocent old dude mode to gain sympathy. You knw what, old people look inmocent outside but inside they are always angry. Probably due to missed opportunity when young, or diminished time on earth. Look at war, war was always launch by old people. Old People placing young men to die in war for their old ego. Look at politicians, bunch of old people clinging to power for ego instead of lovingly caring and enjoying grand child happy family life. Not so innocent after all yeah?
Usia 70 tahun ke atas
Sila ambik lesen lagi lah
Even a lot of younger people are not fit to drive, they double park, cut queue and turn without signal. Should have a compulsory road and simulation test every 10 years.
This is a really difficult situation to tackle. I’m not taking sides but cars driving in the wrong direction is a recipe for disaster as we’ve seen many times. The chances of a big and fatal accident is very high, especially at higher speeds. So, it is highly unlikely that a car driver will intentionally drive against traffic, unless of course the driver is under the influence, made a wrong turn, or on a suicide mission.
Bikers on the other hand, I’ve seen countless times they do it on purpose to have a short cut. Many times, cars in the right direction will have to stop or make way for these irresponsible bikers to drive anti-direction. I’m not saying bikers cannot enter a 1 way street by mistake but it is so easy to turn a bike around if they really wanted to. For a car in the wrong direction, to make a 3 point turn is just as dangerous as it is to continue driving in the wrong way.
First of all, Tun Dr M can drive car well because his brain is active due to his long involvement in politics, thus does not suffer from dementia and not being senile. Many elderly does not involve in brain intensive activity like Tun Dr M.
I demand transport minister to make health check on elderly over 65 years old mandatory and have the doctor verify that they are fit to drive. This is not discriminatory move, but move to ensure road safety.
Many who defend elderly drivers said it is discriminatory. So who is right and who is wrong
Dr M might have taken a lot of supplements like Gingko Biloba, other nutritious food and a systematic exercise regime because he has tons of money. to an average retiree, many cannot afford to live Tun M’s life.
“Those who have elderly parents who are still driving – what are your views on this? Are you woried?”
Yes! Most of them still drives without seatbelt & signals some more. They are as dangerous same like crazy young people who just obtained their license!
IMHO, yearly driving assessment is a great idea. It’s a hassle but at least we can know who can drive safely. And for those who wanna bash me asking how about the younger people who drive like crazy. Get this, the issue right now is old people who might have med condition but still wanna drive, you guys know how stubborn old people can be sometimes.
The younger people issue usually connected from alcohol, drugs, putus cinta or they are just simply crazy. The govt and authority should think and do something about it as well! Sad to see other innocent people who became the victim of this kind of thing.
While I do support that elderly should re-take health check & license, we should also look into relevant authorities to do their jobs.
These authorities should check whether there is adequate road signs & markings on public roads. For far too long, we have broken road signs, deteriorated road markings & etc.
New driving syllabus, also should encompass critical thinking into drivers. Drivers should made good judgement while using Waze/GMaps & react calmly if they had taken the wrong turn etc.
to be fair, everyone should retake driving license every 10 years.
it’s not about the driving skills,
but about practicing driving competency to recognize road regulations.
Not a bad idea,
Repeated test can be done with simulation, instead of driving actual test car.
And simulation can be made as game to promote safe driving.
signages, especially on the tarmac should be continuously maintained in order to prevent misleading info/instructions. Using reflective or LED-type road markings may assist drivers a lot when comes to visibility at night. Often we see these markings are being swept away by the nature (rain and heat) in a very short time..
Its not age that matters. Its the attitude of those drivers. Dont blame old people. They are the most careful drivers in the universe. I m 73 yrs old and had never in any accident. Dont talk about taking driving lesson for old drivers. The young drivers are those who require driving lesson.
Agree. We can still see the blundering and plundering old elderly local BN Umno politikus around , kikiki..
Glad that he’s dead, we don’t need rubbish people like these. Burn in hell old man
Tak kesah age la dei. U see young people also do the same thing.
The problem is with enforcements. Make it legal for those big lorries to protect other road users, see people lawan arus, use the lorries and block them.