Saturday 10 January 2009

A lady in a hurry

I frequently travel on the North-South Expressway for my trips to and from Kuala Lumpur. At certain stretches of the highway, I can turn into a speed demon but generally nowadays I have taken an easy and steady approach in driving. On certain days, the Seremban to KL stretch can have a heavy traffic flow, making high-speed driving a bit difficult anyway.

Earlier this evening, I was on my way back from KL to JB. The traffic leaving KL is heavy as expected. Even on the right-most lane (the fast lane), it was generally difficult to touch speeds above 120 km/h.

Somewhere around the Nilai area I noticed a Proton Waja behind me. Although there was no flashing of the high beam, I suspected the driver was in a bit of a hurry because the Waja was so close to my tail.

When there was a safe gap in the middle lane, I switched lanes to let the Waja pass. As the car passed me on the right, I was surprised to see a young Malay lady at the wheel with another Malay woman in the passenger seat. She tried to pick up speed but since the right lane was also heavy with traffic, she couldn't get too far ahead. After some time, there was a gap in the middle lane and she took the opportunity to switch lanes and started overtaking on the left. I spotted her doing this left overtaking move a few times and thought that she must either be brave or silly.

I then decided to chase her just to check out how fast she was going. She was really driving fast and it wasn't until a few kilometres before I could get right back on her tail. I managed to overtake her after she miscalculated the gap between the slower cars in one of her left-side overtaking manuevers. Pretty soon she right back on my tail and again I decided to let her pass so that I can take a pic. The photo shown below was taken at speeds of 160 - 170 km/h!

The traffic became lighter after we passed Senawang interchange. She then zoomed away in ultra-lightning speed... and I decided to let her ride free. No point tailing her anymore.

To the young lady driving a Proton Waja WJE 908, I hereby confirm that you are really a fast and perhaps a skillful driver. Those quick left-side overtaking moves must have surely given you a thrill. But don't do it too often, my dear... it is dangerous. You may not live to regret it.

19 comments:

Jarod said...

Wah LIAO Bro!!! 160!!!!! My Proton Wira tak gitu WIRA sangat lah!!!! Cannot even reach that! my Maximum is just 150!!!! eeaarrrrgggg!!! She is fast!! anyway, i don't dare to go that fast after i met with an accident some time ago.. scare d...haha! Uncle, don't go too fast o... tc

Chahya said...

Gosh Oldstock, you be careful too! Taking photo at 170kmph...I confirm you're a skillful driver as well :) unless it was someone else driving.

It's really scary to see how some people drive kan. When accidents happen, yang kesiannya those innocent ones...tak pasal2 terlibat sama, menyusahkan orang betul depa ni!

Nurie said...

aha! do u feel somehow 'tercabar' when u found out that it is actually a lady driver? heh.. heh...jgn mare!

I like to drive fast too when the road is empty off course! My hubby frens actually call him one day to tell him that I drove too fast! After that he always prefer to drive me around!

Anyway, it amazed me that u can take that pic at a speed of 170!!! U must have a very steady hands! Jgn buat selalu my fren!

In saudi, on the highways, normally the arabs drive at 200 kmph. Off course la with cars like lexus, porche, escalade....mesti la nak tekan minyak kan!

Pak Zawi said...

Oldstock,
From the position of the camera it was obvious that you were driving and taking pictures. Jangan buat lagi lain kali ya. Biar la dia pecut laju nanti polis cekup dia kat depan tu hehehehe.

Anonymous said...

salam bro, wah!! mmg laju tu...dh lamer i tk bwk kete laju2..paling laju pon 150 je...tu pon naik drive vitara.. skrg drive saga je tp cukup la setakat 120 je..( dh kena saman pon wahahaha) , mungkin lady driver tu sakit prot kot, tu sebab drive laju2..
take care all, biar lambat asal selamat.. ingat la mereka yang di sayang..

Unknown said...

ni classic case of the pot calling the kettle black eh?

she drives fast and weave in and out of traffic.

U chase after her, and take pictures!

I wonder.... which one is more dangerous?

Pat said...

Hahahah! Zawi caught you red handed!!!

She's not the only one though, Oldstock. We do that route every week - and lots of young ladies speed past our Volvo all the time. And my husband goes, 'See that Kancil! Dare to overtake me!' Hahahaha! No manners, ah, they all?

All these young people act like life is so cheap. I know the rush they feel cos I was young once, soooooo very long ago now :( But you are right, they don't realise they might not live to regret it. So well said.

Pat

Fadhil said...

Jarod,

I used to drive fast when I was younger and still a bachelor. Nowadays, I do drive fast once in a while, but this depends on the situation (road condition, traffic volume, weather etc.)

I was in an accident on the NSE years ago but at that time I was driving at a reasonable speed. A cut from the left lane suddenly cut into my path and I had no time to swerve. Sometimes, you can be as careful as you want, but accidents can happen to you because of somebody else.

Anyways, thanks for the reminder. You drive carefully too.

Fadhil said...

Chahya,

I took the pic using my mobile phone, sebab tu gambar tak berapa clear sangat. I snapped three pics and then backed off... itu pun sebab she got held back by the cars in front of her. Even so, it was at 170 km/h... scary huh?

Fadhil said...

Nurie,

That's the real reason why I gave chase... that I was overtaken by a young lady driver. Lebih kurang macam ego yg tercabar la tu... heheheh :-)

So you are a fast driver too, huh? Mesti ada nerves of steel, nih. Tapi kat Saudi sekarang, tak dapat lah you nak drive lagi kan?

When I working in the Emirates, I was tempted to drive fast because the highways are wide and very well constructed. Tapi bila dah kena saman, terus control speed. Kat sana mana boleh runding2 bayar saman ni... :-)

Fadhil said...

Zawi, you right my friend. I decided to take the pic because I wanted soemthing to be attached to this story. I made sure I was in control before I snapped the camera. I immediately backed off after that.

But as you said, it was a dangerous thing to do. Something I would not recommend to other people.

Your comment reminded me of some of the other crazy things I've done. Maybe I'll post another story on that soon.

Fadhil said...

Hanitha,

I tak pernah drive Waja, so tak tahu whether it can really run at 170 km/h safely. My wife's car is a Wira 1.6 XLi... boleh pecut sampai 160, no problem.

Tapi itu dulu la... sekarang enjin dah seasoned, takleh bawak laju-laju lagi.

Fadhil said...

Verse,

Heheheh... that's the crazy me in action. I chased after her because I couldn't believe a girl was driving like that. Kalau lelaki tu memang I tak kisah. I had to catch up and make sure I didn't see it wrong.

Yes, it was a young Malay (pakai tudung tau...) lady, around late 20's to early 30's. I actually wanted to snap a pic of the driver... but that would've DANGEROUS!

Fadhil said...

Pat,

I know exactly how your hb feels. I've seen Kancils zooming past me at what must've been speeds in excess of 140 km/h.

But as you said, we were young once too. As I noted in my reply to Zawi above, I'll post a story soon about something crazy that I did. Something also to do with this Need for Speed...

Anonymous said...

wow ...you at 170 kmph ... means you also in great great speed ...

sure sure your car still comfort and stable on high speed...

HLiza said...

Oh luckily it's Waja and not Wira..he he..it could have been me..we all have demons in us sometimes!

Fadhil said...

Razif,

I was driving at that speed for a short while only. Just enough to tail her and take the pic. After that, I slowed down.

BTW, how come your blog now has restricted access. Need to be invited, ke?

Fadhil said...

Hliza,

Ok... next time I see a speeding Wira driven by a cute lady driver, I check to see if it was you ;-)

Keta wira you kaler apa?

HLiza said...

Kaler tu lah..sama macam gambo tu..yg bestnye it's company car..boleh lanyak. Err..kalau Waja maybe my hubby..ha ha ha..same colour!