I have suffered through countless rush hour traffic jam, but there is this one memory that has stuck with me until today: my mom and I were running late for my violin lesson because we were caught in the rush hour traffic jam. I looked out of the window and I saw cars speeding away on the extra lane on the left hand side of the highway.
“Why don’t we drive on the left lane? That lane is the fastest” the 10-year-old me asked.
“We cannot do that. That is the emergency lane” said my mom dismissing my suggestion without an explanation.
Well, we were running late for the violin lesson, that certainly seemed like an emergency to me, I thought to myself, as we continued to move at snail’s pace.
Rule 53(1) of the Road Traffic Rules 1959 (“Rules”) provides that:
Subject to subrule (2), no vehicle of any specified classes or description shall be driven, towed, pushed, parked or left unattended on any emergency lane except in cases of emergency.
Thus, all vehicles, including motorcycles are prohibited from driving on the emergency lane except in cases of emergency. The above rule does not apply to an ambulance, fire engine, customs vehicle, police vehicle, or prison vehicle[1] and vehicles driven by persons authorised to carry out work on a Federal road or its adjacent areas[2].
Those who are guilty of this offence face a fine of RM2,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months[3].
However, the Rules do not define what constitutes an “emergency”. Reference is therefore drawn from Rule 48 of the Rules which provides that no person shall repair or permit a vehicle to be repaired on a public road except in case of emergency where repair on the spot is necessary to enable the vehicle to be moved.
Thus, in a situation where a car that has broken down requires repair work to be done, this could be considered as an emergency which warrants the car to be parked on the emergency lane.
Another possibility is if the driver suddenly has a serious health condition that impairs his/her ability to continue driving safely e.g. suffering from a heart attack. Such a scenario may constitute an emergency warranting the need to immediately stop the vehicle on the emergency lane.
Coming back to the narration, unfortunately, running late for a violin lesson is definitely not an emergency under the Rules. I am glad that my mom did not take up my suggestion back then.
So, next time you feel utterly tempted to beat the traffic using the emergency lane, ask yourself: how urgent is your emergency?
[1] Rule 53(3) of the Rules read together with rule 9
[2] Rule 53(2) of the Rules
[3] Section 119 of the Road Transport Act 1987
About the Author
Poon Wei Ying is a Senior Associate of XK Law who graduated with First Class Honours from the Cardiff University, United Kingdom. She believes in giving back to the society and that education can change a person’s life.
