How not to have a car crash.

Yesterday, I was in a car crash. More precisely, my wife and I, and the cousin of a friend were in a car crash.

We were driving along, in Malaysia's typically heavy rain. The view ahead was foreshortened by the rain. The road beneath us was slick with far too much water. Suddenly, the oddest of sights leapt out at us, from not too far ahead: a car parked in the road. Really, it wasn't going anywhere at all - just not moving.

The driver slammed on the breaks, but the car just floated over the wet road, not slowing nearly as much or as fast as we would like. It seemed inevitable that we would strike the car. I could feel the world slowing down, even as we sped towards the car. Then we struck, a jarring blow, which flung my head forward sharply, somewhat dizzily. Then we were at a standstill.

Oddly, very, very oddly, my wife and I noticed that there were no cars immediately in front of the car we had struck: why, then, had it stopped at all, in the first place?

"Is everyone OK?" I found myself asking, a little distantly from myself, since, as anyone would tell you, who has been in a sudden crash, it is a little disorienting.

No-one answered. I think they were both too busy being shocked. I looked at them, though, and could see no outward sign of injury.

Our driver got out of the car, on autopilot as it were, knowing she had to.

Another odd thing struck me, then. The driver of the other car was utterly unconcerned. He was not angry. He was not upset. He was not even seemingly surprised. He did say something inexplicable however: "It is your fault...", our driver just nodded, not really knowing quite where she was, "It is your fault: I had to stop to avoid hitting the cars in front...I stopped in time, you didn't."

Well, from where we sat, we could not see any cars that had been in front of him. He appeared to have stopped in the middle of the road, without any provocation at all.

He came over to the car, when our driver returned to the front seat.

"Let us settle this now, in cash." He said, rather bizarrely. You see, the people who normally want to settle in cash, out of the official procedures, are the GUILTY ones.

Our driver just nodded ascent, but didn't reach for her wallet. I think she was too stunned to fully take in what he was saying.

"Give him your contact details." my wife suggested.

Rather jovially I thought, for a man whose car had just been in an accident, he exchanged contact details - though he only gave a telephone number for himself, and no address.

"I have got to go now.", he said. "Make sure you have switched your engine off."

Our driver had tried to call for a tow truck, but found out that her AAM membership had expired. They refused to come.

"Do you have any tow truck contacts?" my wife asked him.

"I do...but they are not very reliable."

Then he left. He got in his car - which was relatively undamaged - drove off.

Our car, on the other hand, seemed to have a broken radiator, since it was steaming. We sat still.

Meanwhile we tried making calls to garages.

In a couple of minutes, a car pulled in front of us and a chubby young man, who was unaccountably happy, got out and gave us his card. Trustingly, I thought, our driver had opened the door for him, to receive his card.

He urged us to call his garage and get a tow truck to come.

We explained that we had our own company in mind. Basically, we were hinting that he should go away. He didn't take the hint. He went back to his car and got on his phone, talking away and looking at the damage on the car all the while.

Soon, another car pulled behind us and two men got out. They introduced themselves to the first man and talked for awhile. Then one of them came over and gave us his card and urged us to call for a tow truck. We explained that we had our company - but again they wouldn't listen.

Over the next quarter of an hour ELEVEN different men arrived, (though two left)offering their services, or more, rather, insisting on them. We were completely blocked in, with cars and motorcycles in front and behind us. They hung around in a large group of nine in front of our car, talking together. They clearly all knew each other. It was obvious that they often did this...whatever it is that they were doing.

We just wanted them to go away.

Periodically, one of them would come over and thrust a card at us. One was a bit pissed when our driver would no longer open the door, but opened the window, instead. "Why won't you open the door, huh?" (The previous time he had thrust the door open further with the back of his hand. That had been noted. Hence, the closed door this time.)

Basically, our car crash had attracted a large gang of men all of whom looked on the dodgy side of the law.

Finally, a man pulled up who looked like a policeman.

"The police!", said Syahidah.

"No.", mourned our driver, "It is just the people who look after this road."

It was a Litrak staff member.

At first, rather comically, he said: "Why are you blocking the road? You are causing a traffic jam."

"We are not the ones causing a jam. They are." said our driver, pointing forward at the gang ahead. "We have been in an accident and the car can't move. Ask them to go away."

He didn't apologize. However, he went off to speak to the men.

They knew how to deal with him. They shook his hand and beamed at him in a friendly manner. They listened to his urgings to go away - and all but two, completely ignored him. The two that drove off, left seven men and several vehicles surrounding us.

Finally, our tow truck arrived - along with at the same time, two brothers of our driver. Finally, we had some numbers on our side.

Then there began a bit of a heated discussion between the gang and the tow truck. The gang said they wouldn't move and give the tow truck access to our car, unless the tow truck company agreed to pay THOUSANDS of ringgits "compensation" to them, for being "first on the scene".

I don't know what the tow truck man said to them, but shortly thereafter the ringleader - older, darker of skin, and greyer of hair, than the rest, signalled that they should all leave. Then, all of a sudden, they were gone.

Apparently, they had told the tow truck man that they were there first, so he can't do the job, because they had first rights to it. However, what they neglected to mention is that we NEVER called them and that they were there AGAINST OUR WILL having been repeatedly told to leave.

That was the beginning of a long night in the police station for the driver (which we began but had to leave).

The whole episode is highly disturbing. It made it clear to us that the worst part about a car crash in Malaysia, is NOT the crash - but the vultures who will turn up afterwards. The rapid appearance of these vultures also made me wonder whether the whole thing had been a set up. They arrived on the scene suspiciously fast, despite not being called by us. Furthermore, the car we had struck seemed to have stopped in the middle of the road for no reason. It may well be that they had seen the Mercedes Benz our friend was driving as attractive bounty to be harvested.

Malaysia really needs to do something about the level of crime and dishonesty encountered in so many segments of society. There are so many predators here. Even a car crash may not be what it seems - and, in fact, turns into a magnet for many a low-life to make a buck out of.

The taxi driver on the way home told us something else to be aware of. He agreed that car crashes were often staged in Malaysia so that garages could make money out of them. He even said that sometimes they will SPILL OIL ON THE ROADS, to CAUSE CRASHES, so that they can then turn up and make money out of the situation. I am left to wonder how many injuries and deaths are caused by the garages trying to drum up business. It is an horrific practice.

Urgent attention needs to be paid to these garages. Should anyone ever complain of suspecting that they have been set up, a full investigation should take place. Should it transpire that the garage has, indeed, set up a crash, then ALL THE STAFF at the garage should receive a VERY LONG prison sentence. They are, after all, placing lives at risk, to make money.

The police understood the situation but advised that it would be difficult to prove the situation. Basically, the whole thing had been structured to make our friend look like she was at fault - even if she wasn't. So, it looks like she will have to pay a fine on top of everything else.

The incident has taught us greater caution over the roads here, in Malaysia. There are people out there who profit from putting others in danger. The only problem now, is what to do about them? A start would be a very sturdy car indeed - so that is what we will have to arrange, when it comes time for us to sort out one for ourselves here. Presently, we use taxis (which are far from sturdy). Then again, a taxi is unlikely to be an active target.

By the way, none of us was noticeably hurt, though we were a little shaken. That, I suppose, is thanks to the sturdy construction of our friends in Germany.

Thank you Mercedes Benz.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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A Singaporean Lullaby

Last night, as I lay in bed, considering sleep, I heard the thump of a car on a car, followed by a second thump and the long screech of brakes applied in panic. A third thump did not follow. Just silence.

Such are the sounds that lull a man to sleep in Singapore, of a night.

Thinking of it now, I have a picture of the crash I didn't see. One car struck another, without braking - so someone was being inattentive, at least, then either the same car struck a second car, or a second car struck another. Then and only then, did someone start to brake.

What is clear to me from what I heard is that the reaction times of all involved were very slow. Was this due to the late hour (I don't know the exact time but I would estimate that it was past 1 am.)? Or was it due to intoxication (which slows reactions)? Whichever was the case, it was clear that these were crashes at the highest speed. There was no slowing before impact. There was just sudden impact.

Nothing broke the silence that followed the crashes - not even sirens. There appeared to be no reaction from Singapore, that late at night. Perhaps sirens are not allowed to be sounded, so late.

I looked out of the window, to try to see what had happened. From no vantage, however, could I find the crash. It was near enough to hear, but not within sight. It might have been just through the trees that ring our apartments.

This evening, as I returned with my wife, from the local supermarket, she remarked: "There was a crash today."

I was not surprised. "I heard it last night."

"No, not that one - another one."

"Another?"

Sure enough, there, before us, on an island in the middle of the road, was the detritus of yet another pile up. There was a complete radiator grill from a car, lying there. The emergency services had, as usual, been very lax in clearing away all of the pieces of car, the latest smash had left behind. There were always bits of car or motorcycle on the road next to our house. It was a virtual graveyard for cars and drivers alike.

"There were three cars.", she explained.

Just like the one last night, had seemed.

"It had happened by the time I came back at six."

"So, that's two pile-ups, here, in fifteen hours."

Living where we do, next to a main road, provides us with a kind of absurdist comedy. So frequently are we presented with pieces of vehicle to step over, as we cross the road on the way to the shops, that it seems like a dark comedy, of a particularly brutal kind. When, oh when, will something be done to improve road safety?

In the time since we moved here, I have personally witnessed two fatalities - and several other crashes. I find that odd, since I only encounter the road perhaps two to four times a day. The rest of the time, I am not around to observe it. So, the implication is that there were a lot more fatalities in that period, that I just did not notice.

I would rather a different sound to usher me towards sleep than the "music" of cars, crunching upon cars. Singapore is, as most people know, an overcrowded city (figures for 2004 indicate that it was then the fourth most densely populated city on Earth...it is probably the third, now. Its population density then was just a tad under famously and grossly overpopulated Hong Kong.) One consequence of overcrowding is that cars don't have vast open spaces to drive in. There is always another car just up ahead. That, however, doesn't stop youngsters from speeding. Today, as we walked to the supermarket, for instance, a car raced by well in excess of 100 mph, zipping ironically past a sign that said: "Slow down now."

No police siren sounded. No speed camera snapped an image. He got away with it. At least, that time. No doubt, the young driver will one day make "music", as he dies, crashing at high speed, while I, or another, tries to sleep.

There are road laws, here, as there are everywhere. I am not, however, entirely sure that they are adequately enforced.

No-one should have to fear being rammed by an out of control, high speed car, while shopping. Yet, such an event could easily have happened, today, outside the supermarket, where a sign reads "Slow down now".

Why does the sign ask drivers to slow? Well, because there is a bend, up ahead. That crazy driver did slow, just in time...but still took the bend at very high speed.

It is difficult to know his precise speed, but when I say over 100 mph, I mean WELL over. Perhaps 120 to 140 mph...something like that, when he passed us. Then he began to slow sharply for the bend.

There should be stiff penalties for driving like that. I say this because I am tired, very, very tired, of watching people die or be injured on the road outside my own house. The mad drivers who create this carnage shouldn't be on the roads, at all. Once identified, they should be denied the right to drive, at all, at the very least.

I doubt that anyone in a position to influence events on Singapore's roads will read this post - but if they do, I ask this of you: stop the carnage, now...and take the speed crazy drivers off the roads, permanently.

Two multiple car crashes, in fifteen hours, in one tiny area of Singapore, is more than enough of an indication of the size of the road safety problem facing Singapore. It is time for something serious to be done about it.

How about some automated speed cameras, on every road, and some stiff penalties for aggressive driving - such as confiscation of the car? That should bring down the death figures. A compulsive speeder can't kill anyone if he (or she) hasn't got a car to drive.

In the meantime, my family will treat the road outside our house with infinite caution. Pretty though the area is, an absurd number of people seem to die, suddenly, just where we have to cross the road, to get to the shops.

It shouldn't be this way.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)