In Malaysia, you get to come across some interesting people on the road. In layman term, some drivers think it’s their “father’s road” to simply go around as they please. I’m sure most of you have used that term to curse at other drivers before. Politeness is one of the central features of human communication. It is highly recommended to do right by our parents ever since we were children. Simple yet polite words and actions were taught to us, such as saying “thank you”, standing on the left side of the lane to give way to people walking by, giving your seat up for the pregnant and elderly to sit in the train, never interrupt people when they’re talking, holding the door for you, and many more. We were all taught from young so it’s should be a breeze for us to be kind to one another wouldn’t you think? Sadly, this can’t be further from the truth today.
Some of you may have seen the viral parking video that has surfaced in our timeline through various social media and people were not happy with it. In the video, a woman steals parking space from a driver and refuses to budge and get this, she wasn’t even in a car and is just standing in the way on the excuse that she is reserving the space for her own car. The footage, filmed on the driver’s DashCam, shows the car driving into a parking garage in Flushing, Queens when a woman was standing in an empty car parking spot refusing to give the driver their parking lot. Her reason being is that her father had been waiting in a Blue Compass jeep. Sooner or later, the woman’s mother comes into view to stand beside her daughter.
Recently, Malaysians were struck with the same story when it happened at one of the popular shopping malls in Petaling Jaya in One Utama. This means parking spaces are hard to come by especially during peak hours and the weekends. As such, some has resorted to “human parking” where one person would “chop” or reserve the parking spot and stand there. What happened in this situation was that a netizen named Jason took it to Facebook after he spotted a lady standing in a vacant spot. She was engrossed in her phone almost pretending to not care that there were other people wanting the car park spot. Some netizen was furious at that act and some even commented “you should drive up to her and honk at her until she moves. That should teach her a lesson,”.
There was even another short video in Penang showing an older woman standing in an empty parking spot because she wanted to book the place. She refused to let go of the spot after being told by other drivers to move away as she is keeping it for her son to come and park right there.
This definitely is not the first time such a thing has happened in Malaysia, and I’m sure some of you are guilty of hogging a parking space using one’s body. This begs the question, what are the limits to being a polite person and a respectful one when it comes to social acceptance? What are the ways we can make this world an easy one instead of human-hating on each other?
When it comes to parking, we all have our own way on what is right and wrong of the ethics behind this issue. Driving and owning a car is a lot of responsibility. From paying monthly for your car, insurance, for gas, toll money, parking fees and overall maintenance of the car. It takes a lot of investment just for a car. However, in order to ensure your car don’t get scratched by other angry drivers or bumped into, we all need to have social ethic or “code of conduct”. It’s an anthem we all should live by while behind the wheel.
In the name of ethics, we are dedicating this to all the parking no-no’s to avoid more conflicts and a happy ‘rage’ on the road. Here are the few things you should and shouldn’t do to piss off others drivers and adhere to the code.
- Signal your move
This is a common rule that most people gets misunderstood with and ends up being scolded or shouted at. Always give signal when you want to book for that empty parking spot so the drivers at the back gets the message and drive to find another parking spot. Just last week, I was in a Klang Valley area shopping mall and a huge fight began as a car from the back stole another person’s parking spot. However, the person defended his reason for taking that parking spot was there wasn’t any indication of signal that anyone was going to book that spot. So, moral of the story, don’t stress yourself anymore and just give a signal while waiting for a parking spot to clear.
- A funny video I stumbled upon, clearly shows how we think and feel!
- Keep it short and simple (K.I.S.S)
Why do people always take their own sweet time to come out from the parking spot? Are you settling your email, text and probably even filling out a form at that time? It gets the best of us when we have been eyeing that one parking spot and some people apparently just gotten their driving license. The person waiting for that parking spot probably has few cars waiting behind them and due to one person, it’ll just end up hogging the whole road with traffic jams. Remember always K.I.S.S.
- Disabled Parking
There will always be one person who has no patient when it comes to finding a “legit” parking space and they just decide to park at a place where disabled people needs it the most. Have you done this before? If you have, please stop and get in touch with your angelic side. It is definitely wrong in many levels to take advantage of the disabled when they have earn their right to park there. The only people who can legally use these spaces are those who hold a permit, but this doesn’t stop selfish drivers from claiming these spots on a daily basis. Well, have a heart and don’t do it next time, alright?
- Neighbour trouble
It’s always annoying when you visit your friends or relatives place and the housing area parking spot is so limited. Some go to the extent of parking a spot right in front of the neighbour’s house. Is this an offence? The answer is yes. Under section 48(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, any driver that parks in a way that can cause an inconvenience or obstruct other users of the road is liable for an offence and can be punished with a fine of at least RM1,000 and/or at least 1 year in jail. If you don’t want to resolve to legal issues, you can always try talking to the owners of the car nicely. Reminder again, respect a person’s home and space.
Image via NST
- Double Parking
Yes, I’m sure all of us have done this before. If you haven’t, I bet you’re not a Malaysian. Double parking is not necessarily bad but when it becomes a habit of not placing your phone number to ensure the other gets to come out of the parking spot instantly, now that’s unethical. There have so many instances where the double park drivers doesn’t leave the phone number and it rages the other drive to put trash on their car, scratch them, slash their tyres or even break their viper screen (true story). Best tips is to always prepare your phone number written on a piece of paper every time if you decide to double park regardless if its a short amount of time.
Hope this insight could prevent more parking casualties and spread good cheer to everyone on the road and drivers around.