Cross Zebra Crossings At Your Own Risks In Miri

When you are about to cross a zebra crossing in Miri, NEVER assume that motorists will give way to you.  You have to be vigilant. Apparently a lot of motorists in Miri have never been taught by their driving instructors that they have to give way to pedestrians at zebra crossings. To such motorists, zebra crossings are akin to something like road art only.

We have been taught from young to look both sides to make sure it is safe to cross any road. Zebra crossings are supposed to make it easier for us to cross roads but they fail miserably due to the attitudes of our motorists.

One zebra crossing in Miri is particularly dangerous. It is the one near Pelita Maybank. Because it is difficult to find parking at Pelita Maybank, I tend to park somewhere in front of Grand Palace Hotel and then use the zebra crossing to go across the road to Maybank. Many a times, as I stepped onto the zebra crossing to cross the road, oncoming cars, especially those turning into the junction from Jalan Pujut, often speed up so that they did not have to give way to me. According to the traffic rules, pedestrians have the right of way once they have one foot on the zebra crossing. This means drivers of any oncoming vehicles are obliged to slow down and come to a complete stop before the zebra crossing and they, by law, cannot cross any part of the zebra crossing until the pedestrian(s) fully reach the other side. But if I had assumed that I had right of way at the zebra crossing and just crossed the road, I would have been hit by the cars.

Zebra crossing near Pelita Maybank

Another place where you need to be extra careful is the Miri Airport. Not only do a lot of drivers don’t give way, some even park blatantly on the zebra crossings thus blocking pedestrians.

Zebra crossings have thus become seemingly like white elephants. They might as well not be there.