Another Accident

Three Vehicles Affair

Having seen so many accidents on the road during my Kuching - Serian journey, there is a tendency for one to get immune when one sees another accident scene after another. But when I saw that one of it involved a school bus, I had to stop as it may involve some school children. The accident had just happened minutes before I arrived at the scene. The black oil on the road was still steaming.

The accident scene at the junction of the Jalan Semenggok (Kuching - Serian Highway)

The state of the two vehicles

Condition of the School van/bus - there were 4 to 5 children (the driver was too shocked to remember) in the van/bus during the accident.

The Proton Aeroback had it bad - its wrecked beyond recognition

The School Bus or Van and the driver who was slightly injured in the arm

The Fire and Rescue Department came about ten minutes later but the kind road users were faster than them. The accident victims had been rushed to the hospital

The third vehicle that caused this accident? It was a Toyota Landcruiser with a damaged front bumper.

Where it happened: The accident occurred near the junction of the JPJ (Road Transport Department) office. In the Google map above the JPJ is not there yet

The Landcruiser (X1) and the School Bus/Van (X2) were heading for Serian (from West to East on the Map). The Proton Aeroback (X3) was coming from the opposite direction. It seems that X1 hit the back of the School Van/Bus (if you notice the back of the School Van/Bus in the picture you will see that its rear end is damaged due to this impact). The school van/bus spun around out of control and hit the Proton which coming from the other lane. And thus the position of the vehicles on the Map X1, X2 and X3. There were about four to five children in the School Van/Bus but all of them were rushed to the nearest hospital I was told, including the Proton car driver. And so its all in a days event at this highway stretch. One thing for sure, I am glad that there were no serious injuries.

That's the hazard of driving and I believe each and everyone of us who sits behind the wheels of any of this machines has to ensure that everything is fine. When I say everything it means it really means everything - be it the condition of the car, the condition of your mind, the weather - EVERYTHING. But you may be careful about EVERYTHING, the other person behind the wheels of the vehicle in front of you or at the back of you may not have considered EVERYTHING - which is why accidents occur. Being a road warrior, there are times when driving down under the worst of conditions is unavoidable. Sometimes while driving your handphone rings and you inform the caller at the other end who may be calling from a nice air conditioned restaurant (that you are driving) who has something urgent to talk with you and it cannot wait, say 'His pet kitten has some serious symptoms of bird flu disease, which is a danger to mankind if there is an inter species epidemic'. Even if you tell these persistent people that you are driving, they will drag on and on and if you hang up on them they will scold you for being rude. Damn! I don't know you but I get a lot of these calls. I guess if an insurance telemarketeer called me while my car was spinning out of control in the middle of the road, just '10 secs' before impact with an approaching oil tanker , I would have said yes immediately to a RM1million insurance coverage over the phone.


Driving at night (as seen in the above video of my driving at night during one of my Sri Aman to Kuching trip) is also an unbelievable experience for those who wish view how driving conditions here are between Sri Aman and Serian at night - add some heavy rain for some more exciting effects. Minus those lights you have along the Kuala Lumpur International Airport - Kuala Lumpur Highway. You are only guided by the occassional lightning, the middle of the road marking and the lights from approaching vehicles. Sometimes you have to identify if you have veered off into the wrong side of the road by identifying the grass or the feeling that the tyre had hit some earth. These situations can be avoided if one plans ahead for the journey. Just an advice to those who are somewhere in Headquarters they cannot inform us of a impending meeting 24 hours before it's about to take place. But its unavoidable when you do get urgent calls from Headquarters late at night requesting that you return to Kuching to attend an emergency meeting, say for example, to discuss on the case of some cat that may have caught the bird flu virus. Phew!

Comments

headsteadi said…
That area is very common in getting accident. Too many junctions along the strecth and people simply enter & exit into/from the main road without any warning.
Amiey Alen said…
terok eyh... never seen this kind of accidents before.... :D
Yup. We need to be careful when driving. And i pity those who were involved in that particular accident. I saw an accident in that area too. A kancil overtook me that night and got into an accident right in front of my eyes.
Amiey Alen said…
willie>>>
kasin owh...
kalo its me...
mmg taruma terus tgk org accident in front of my eyes...

kucing d laggar depan me lagi i dah mcm apa...

apa lgi kalo manusia... :(
Anonymous said…
kan bagus mun semua pemandu berhati-hati and ikut peraturan jalan raya..boleh juak elak kemalangan. tp mun kita jak berhati-hati and org lain sik, ya lah jadinya....kasihan org yg jd mangsa pemandu yg 'reckless'..