Police Call For Safe Driving Amid, Monsoon Season
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Police recently advised motorists to drive with extra precaution during the current monsoon season as the country has seen a tremendous surge in the number of road accidents in the past few days.

According to the police, some 30 accidents were recorded during the first three days of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities, with the Brunei-Muara District topping the chart at 20 cases, Belait District at four, Tutong District at five and Temburong at one.

Last Sunday afternoon, a 25-year-old woman became the latest casualty, after she died in a road accident during a downpour along the Tutong highway.

She was a passenger in a car driven by a 24-year-old man. They were on their way to the capital when the tragedy took place.

Meanwhile, motorists called for actions to be taken against drivers who commit serious offences such as speeding, beating traffic lights, cutting queue, reckless driving, and overtaking on double lanes.

"Many bad drivers have gone unpunished. This kind of attitude can kill them as well as innocent road users, especially when driving at top speed on a highway.

"Bad drivers who flout traffic rules have to pay the price and be penalised heavily," they said.

They also said drivers in the high-risk group should face heavier insurance loading if they were involved in accidents.

"If the insurance becomes expensive for reckless drivers, they will think twice about breaking any rules on the road," they said.

Traffic offenders who refuse to change, they added, must be taken off the road.

They said apart from bad drivers, the roads, especially on highways, need to be improved as it factors into the increasing number of road fatalities.

They added that deaths caused by accidents will bring a great sense of loss to parents, relatives and friends. "When parents themselves die in accidents, there will be sadness all around," they added.

They also said Brunei is a blessed country as it has been spared from natural disasters like earthquakes, droughts and typhoons.

"We should count our blessings" instead of exercising negligence on the road, they added. .

They also felt conditions for obtaining driving licences should be made harsher by issuing them only to courteous and civic-conscious drivers.

Courses on minor vehicle repairs will enable car owners to understand and check their vehicles before embarking on long journeys, they said. They also called for public transportation services to be improved. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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