At least two video clips filmed during road rage incidents —one leading to the death of a driver— shows a worrying trend in Malaysia.
Drivers are taking things in their own hands to exact revenge from road incidents. Yesterday, a video clip of a road rage case went viral. On Monday, another video clip caused a series of racist comments after a Malay driver was rammed-over by another driver.
A motorist attacked another driver with a baseball bat during a road rage incident near the Sungai Besi toll plaza and he was killed after the driver drove into him while trying to flee, police disclosed.
According to a preliminary investigation report, the incident occurred Saturday, August 10 after the deceased drove his car into the suspect’s vehicle and triggered a chase involving both. The chase eventually ended at an intersection in Bandar Baru Bangi.
Both drivers then alighted to confront each other, but they returned to their cars after other motorists intervened.
But the police say the deceased, unhappy with the situation returned from his car with a baseball bat to hit the front of the suspect’s car.
The incident got a lot of attention on Twitter and Facebook. The netizens reporting the incident gave it a ‘racist’ tone or misreported the incident, saying the deceased was the one who got beaten with a baseball bat and died.
According to the Police, the suspect drove his car forward hurriedly and hit the deceased who was pinned between the suspect’s car and the road divider.
This information was in a report by the Selangor Criminal Investigation Department.
The deceased, a 29-year-old man, was brought to the Nilai Medical Centre for treatment but did not survive.
Police arrested the other driver, a man aged 40, and his 36-year-old wife, opening a case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
Police investigators dismissed rumours of racial elements as a factor in the altercation.
“The motive of the incident stemmed from the road accident and has nothing to do with the racial issue being spread online,” they say.
The other incident took place on the same Saturday.
Cheras OCPD Asst Comm Mohamed Mokhsein Mohamed Zon said the case occurred at around 2.30pm last Saturday.
A 20-year-old woman lodged a report that she was driving her car towards the Cheras roundabout when another car came to an abrupt stop in front of her.
A 23-second video shows the alleged aggressor standing outside another vehicle holding a broken side-view mirror which he threw at the car when the victim attempted to drive off.
The man had hit the vehicle’s side-view mirror until it broke off completely.
The woman then drove to the Sungai Besi police station where she filed a police report.
Police arrested the suspect three days later after he surrendered at the Cheras police headquarters.
These are not the first road rage incidents in Malaysia this year.
The Vitdaily website says, “when you’re a motorist in Malaysia, to be forced to stop and be given rude gestures by another motorist is pretty much natural – sadly.” -/TISG