A deterrent to road rage

THE road rage case that happened four years ago reached its conclusion last week with the judge sentencing Yew Wei Liang, 45, a former information technology employee, to 16 years in prison for causing the death of Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Shakir at the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban bound North-South Expressway (NSE).

Judge Julia Ibrahim, when pronouncing her verdict, cited public interest in meting out the sentence, with the objective that it would serve as a lesson and a deterrence to the public.

I know it will definitely serve as a lesson to me.

I have never been involved in an incident that can be classified as road rage, but I have to admit that I have been in a couple of exchanges with other motorists, shouting choice words at one another from our respective vehicles while showing hand gestures.

It has been my good fortune that the incidents did not cause any damage other than hurt feelings and a ruined day. But from this case, I can see how, on a different day with a different person, things could get out of control.

I am sure the late Syed Muhammad Danial and Yew didn’t leave their house wanting to be embroiled in a case of road rage that day, but look at what happened to them.

I do realise that a lot of things go through people’s mind when they are behind the wheel, and driving during peak hours or traffic jams can be emotionally taxing.

If the wrong thoughts are going through your mind while you are stuck in a jam and are already late, one minor mishap might be all it takes for your pent-up stress to explode.

If you have the bad luck of getting into an altercation with a person who is also on the brink of a psychological meltdown, some really nasty things can happen in a very short period of time.

Syed Muhammad Danial was just 29 at the time of his death. At such a young age, he was already a bank manager. He had a three-month-old daughter and had a lot to look forward to in life.

I am sure Yew would have played the incident many times in his mind, and he will do it many more times as he serves his jail time.

Yew was 41 at the time of the incident. When he gets out of jail, he might be 57 years old. He would have lost some of the best years of his life due to a momentary lapse of judgement.

But what else can be done? A life has been lost. Sometimes we have to bear with a harsh punishment just so the scales of justice can be balanced.

The only thing we can hope for in this tragedy is that, as the learned judge said, “We must remain calm and control our emotions before taking any action in this increasingly challenging world.”

NEHRU SATHIAMOORTHY

Petaling Jaya