So, stuck in a crippled vehicle on the emergency lane of the North-South Expressway (PLUS) near Bandar Baru Bangi, Kajang in Selangor, I made a frantic call to my insurance company.
In the middle of a working day and under a blazing sun, the prospect of waiting more than 60 minutes for help was most exasperating.
While ruminating on this unfortunate situation and dreading the prospect of having to stay back after work to make up for lost time, there was also the worry of oncoming traffic.
Some were heavy vehicles capable of crushing a car like a tin can.
Smaller vehicles whizzed past so close that an open car door would have triggered a major accident.
But as luck would have it, along came a PLUS auxiliary police truck after just 15 minutes.
They must have been passing by chance as it was the insurance provider I called, not the expressway’s roadside assistance hotline.
In less than five minutes, the punctured tyre was replaced with a spare, thanks to the assistance extended by auxiliary policemen Shamierul and Asyrof.
When the wheel was fixed, so immense was the relief that I could not help but jump for joy.
Hopefully, they understood that the enthusiasm was not just about swapping a punctured tyre for a working one.
Neither was it about cutting short a long waiting time, allowing me to get on with my day.
It was about immediate safety. Horrific things can happen to stalled vehicles on highways.
A recent video on Star TV of a multiple collision at Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur is an example.
Like a scene out of a series of unfortunate events, a car that had skidded and come to a halt on a fast lane was hit by another car, causing it to pinball towards the left, whereupon it was hit by another truck, causing both to crash into a road divider.
Though I had stopped in the emergency lane, there was still a risk of being hit by sleepy or negligent drivers.
Shamierul and Asyrof were also putting their lives in danger by stopping to help.
There have been many stories of Good Samaritans either crushed or run over while helping stricken drivers on highways.
Several lessons came with the puncture that day.
One is to always be aware of one’s location.
Embarrassingly, when the insurance hotline operator asked for my whereabouts, I had to admit that I did not know at which kilometre of the expressway I was at, or whether I was heading north or south!
Only after much browsing on Google Maps was I able to give the operator my location.
Second is to always have a list of contact numbers of highway hotlines in hand.
Easiest is to call the Malaysian Highway Authority hotline at 1800-88-7752 for emergency rescue coordination.
Highway roadside assistance teams can always render aid faster and the quicker a stranded vehicle is taken off the road, the lower the risk to everyone.
Third is to learn how to change a tyre fast. It was only upon arriving home I learnt that all the necessary tools – a cordless impact wrench and a portable floor jack, which can be operated at the touch of a button – were in my car boot all along.
My son had placed them there, in case his mother had a flat tyre.
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