| By Rosli Abidin
Yahya
Several drivers stopped their
vehicles in the middle of the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway as
the huge LCD screen flashed the word "stop" recently.
After several minutes, the
drivers realised the instruction was not meant to be heeded and
they continued their journey.
The technicians were only
testing the newly installed screen erected near the new $30
million Kiarong Interchange.
It was lucky the sudden
stoppage did not cause any accident as other drivers also
stopped their vehicles.
One driver, however, was so
furious he parked his car on the side of the highway and went
out of his vehicle to scold the technicians.
He said it was not proper for
the technicians to type in the word "stop" to test the
new LCD screen as they had no idea whether it was only a test.
"You must think carefully
that the word 'stop' could be misinterpreted by drivers.
"Your deed could have
caused accidents while you are only trying to pull our
legs," the driver shouted.
He added the word
"stop" did not flash but was stationary, causing
drivers to think it was a real instruction to stop.
"I thought it was an
instruction to stop maybe because the structure holding the
screen was not properly erected. It would be proper for us to
stop," he said.
The technicians then apologised
to him and continued to test the screen by flashing other
warnings such as "Go Slow" and "Maximum Speed 80
km per hour".
The Kiarong interchange had
been completed recently and the underpass was opened to
vehicles.
The opening of the underpass
caused traffic to flow smoothly. After the opening of the
roundabout in November, the area had seen the worst of traffic
jams especially during noon and after office hours when public
servants returned home.
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