The emergency lane is actually a traffic lane meant for use by authorities such as the Fire and Rescue Department, the police and ambulances, Road Safety Department director-general Datuk Suret Singh reminded motorists.
It is not intended for drivers to stop at the lane or to carry out repairs on stalled vehicles, he added.
“It is extremely dangerous when vehicles are parked at emergency lanes, in the lane for traffic,” he told reporters yesterday.
Suret Singh said the right thing to do was to move the car to the road shoulder and ensure the vehicle does not obstruct the emergency lane.
“If there is no road shoulder, the stalled vehicle can be left on the emergency lane but only for a short period pending assistance. A safety triangle must be placed some distance behind the car to warn other motorists.
“Drivers and passengers of the stalled vehicle should stay away from the car. Pick a safe place to wait. Repair work should not be conducted on the emergency lane,” he added.
Suret Singh said if repair works were needed, a tow truck or highway patrol vehicle must be summoned immediately to tow away the vehicle.
He was commenting on an accident last week in which an express bus ploughed into two men who were attending to a car on the emergency lane at the 263rd kilometre of the North-South Expressway near Seremban.
Mohd Hanif Mohd Noor, 29, from Kg Air Tawar in Merlimau, Malacca, was driving to Bandar Baru Bangi with his mother and two younger siblings to visit a sister when his car broke down.
Mechanic Palaneysamy Ratnam, 26, from Taman Mambau Jaya, near here, had arrived to check the car parked on the emergency lane.
However, as both were checking the car, the bus which had just entered the highway hit them, killing both instantly.
It is not intended for drivers to stop at the lane or to carry out repairs on stalled vehicles, he added.
“It is extremely dangerous when vehicles are parked at emergency lanes, in the lane for traffic,” he told reporters yesterday.
Suret Singh said the right thing to do was to move the car to the road shoulder and ensure the vehicle does not obstruct the emergency lane.
“If there is no road shoulder, the stalled vehicle can be left on the emergency lane but only for a short period pending assistance. A safety triangle must be placed some distance behind the car to warn other motorists.
“Drivers and passengers of the stalled vehicle should stay away from the car. Pick a safe place to wait. Repair work should not be conducted on the emergency lane,” he added.
Suret Singh said if repair works were needed, a tow truck or highway patrol vehicle must be summoned immediately to tow away the vehicle.
He was commenting on an accident last week in which an express bus ploughed into two men who were attending to a car on the emergency lane at the 263rd kilometre of the North-South Expressway near Seremban.
Mohd Hanif Mohd Noor, 29, from Kg Air Tawar in Merlimau, Malacca, was driving to Bandar Baru Bangi with his mother and two younger siblings to visit a sister when his car broke down.
Mechanic Palaneysamy Ratnam, 26, from Taman Mambau Jaya, near here, had arrived to check the car parked on the emergency lane.
However, as both were checking the car, the bus which had just entered the highway hit them, killing both instantly.
