I rode my motorcycle the other day, and quickly realize that the area in which I live is already crowded. Time does fly, and it did the quiet and small suburbs into cramped polis filled with irregular buildings. I don't care about that, really. What I do care is how unregulated development and increase in personal disposable income make the small suburban roads even more cramped than before.
Personally, I like open roads. And I'm sure that's not just me. Having a pleasant commute with steady pace is relaxing, and if chance permits, open the tap a little bit would not hurt. But the problem is we don't have enough tarmac to cover the wheels. It is a known fact that vehicle ownership growth outnumbers road development rate. Consequently, we cannot enjoy the freedom we used to have.
It is quite easy to blame the government for this inconvenience. Also a known fact that our representatives in parliament (or whatever, I hate them enough not to remember the names) do their talk first before thinking about it, in a loud and proud manner. It might be the sole reason why there are so many unattended potholes in our roads.
In an over-the-coffee conversation I happened to stumble upon, a person did blame the ease of acquiring personal vehicle. I argued to him, that if the sales of personal vehicles were prohibited, as is the case in Singapore, our economic growth wouldn't be so great. The talk stopped, and we moved on to something else I don't remember.
When looking at the real world, I do realize the enormous amount of motorcycles. The automatic ones especially. Motorcyclists, more often than not, proved to be a menace in cities, primarily because their ease of manoeuvrability, allowing them to zig-zag and weave about in traffic. It is not that their doings are wrong, but it must be confusing to other road users. To car drivers, if you want to be sure.
It may seems like a battle between cars and motorcycles. But in truth, it is. Been in both mode of transport, I can report that when driving a car, I'm a little scared of knocking over a swerving motorcycle. And I enjoy swerving around on a motorcycle.
The real pressing problem is us. The vehicles are at best just tools, even if you drive a Formula One car on the road. It is always the behaviour that makes the road more friendly or becoming more ruthless. And in cities, we seem to be not sharing much.
It is not hard to see why. More often than not, a vehicle on the road is driven by one person, which is also the passenger. That means there is a space for other persons, at least for one other passenger, in case of a two-seater sports car. But on ordinary cars, there is a space for three more. And if you take into account SUVs-which-can't-do-off-road, it is probably about 4-6 more. I can't think of any other word than egoistic.
But that is just an example of how social system has been working since donkey's years. The bigger you are, the more 'respect' you have. The 'you' component can be substituted with 'house','car', or penis for men, and breasts for women. Oh sorry, the last two item are for private and marriage use only, unless you're a sex freak or a porn demon, or both. But I hope that you get what I mean.
And the sad thing is, I'm a little trapped in this kind of thinking. There is a Toyota FJ40 in my garage, and the reason I want to drive that car is so that other road users would give way. And they will. When me and my dad went somewhere remote using that car, we were most of the time get the space needed when exiting a junction.
That will partially compensate my lacking in driving skill, which magnifies in a car with non-powered steering, heavy clutch, and sledgehammer transmission, such as the FJ40. Oh, the carburettor is jetted lean so it would consume a litre in six kilometres, instead of just four. Sounds good, but it will increase the chance of sudden stall if the driver wrongly apply the three pedals, and it is certainly harder to start again with limited petrol supply to the cylinders.
And if I do stall in the middle of the road, I'll be a nuisance to other road users, blocking their way with the car's massive body. I just hope that that won't happen, as that would get me an 'egoist' status, something I really want to avoid. Especially after I made this post.
Friday, May 27th 2011.
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